SynthesisImplementation science : IS2021
How effective are social norms interventions in changing the clinical behaviours of healthcare workers? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Implementation science : IS, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07112508 (PRISM), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
PRISM: The PRimary Care Individual Social Norms MSK Data Dashboard: a Cluster Randomised Feasibility Trial in Clinician Management of Musculoskeletal Patients.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of social norms messaging approaches for improving health behaviours in developed countries.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Scoping review of social norms interventions to reduce violence and improve SRHR outcomes among adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Pooled it
- Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies or practices targeting diet, physical activity, obesity, tobacco or alcohol use.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies or practices targeting diet, physical activity, obesity, tobacco or alcohol use.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Mediators of measurement-based care implementation in community mental health settings: results from a mixed-methods evaluation.Implementation science : IS · 2022Trial
- "Three Good Things" Digital Intervention Among Health Care Workers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Article
- Conformity to social norm interventions is not amplified in tighter nations.Communications psychology · 2026Article
- Changing the fate of rangelands through behavioral nudges for sustainable land use and management using an extended theory of planned behavior.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Barriers and facilitators to using standardised diagnostic assessments in child and adolescent mental health services: a qualitative process evaluation of the STADIA trial.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Encouraging the prescribing of SGLT2i and GLP-1RA medications to reduce cardiovascular and renal risk in patients with type 2 diabetes: Rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.American heart journal · 2025Article
- Enhancing implementation of information and communication technologies for post-discharge care among hospitalized older adult patients: development of a multifaceted implementation intervention package using the behavior change wheel and implementation research logic model.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Augmenting Parenting Programs With the Pause Mobile App: Mixed Methods Evaluation.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Article
- Can behavioral science advance breastfeeding-friendly primary care? Key findings from an evaluation in Kosovo.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- The ART of evidence-based care: proof of concept of a novel strategy to accelerate research translation in health organisations.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Integrating insights from implementation science and behavioral economics to strengthen suicide screening strategies for pediatric populations.Current opinion in psychology · 2024Review
- Zoonotic infections in UK and Irish veterinary students: a cross-sectional survey.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Testing interventions to reduce clinical inertia in the treatment of hypertension: rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.American heart journal · 2024Article
- The Association between Intrahousehold Food Allocation Social Norms and Thinness among Young Adolescent Girls: A Community-Based Study.Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealthcare workers perform clinical behaviours which impact on patient diagnoses, care, treatment and recovery. Some methods of supporting healthcare workers in changing their behaviour make use of social norms by exposing healthcare workers to the beliefs, values, attitudes or behaviours of a reference group or person. This review aimed to evaluate evidence on (i) the effect of social norms interventions on healthcare worker clinical behaviour change and (ii) the contexts, modes of delivery and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) associated with effectiveness.
methodsSystematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Searches were undertaken in seven databases. The primary outcome was compliance with a desired healthcare worker clinical behaviour and the secondary outcome was patient health outcomes. Outcomes were converted into standardised mean differences (SMDs). We performed meta-analyses and presented forest plots, stratified by five social norms BCTs (social comparison, credible source, social reward, social incentive and information about others' approval). Sources of variation in social norms BCTs, context and mode of delivery were explored using forest plots, meta-regression and network meta-analysis.
resultsCombined data from 116 trials suggested that social norms interventions were associated with an improvement in healthcare worker clinical behaviour outcomes of 0.08 SMDs (95%CI 0.07 to 0.10) (n = 100 comparisons), and an improvement in patient health outcomes of 0.17 SMDs (95%CI 0.14 to 0.20) (n = 14), on average. Heterogeneity was high, with an overall I
conclusionsSocial norms interventions appeared to be an effective method of changing the clinical behaviour of healthcare workers and have a positive effect on patient health outcomes in a variety of health service contexts. Although the overall result is modest and variable, there is the potential for social norms interventions to be applied at large scale.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42016045718 .
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.