ArticleHealth research policy and systems2021
Understanding the complexity of population health interventions: assessing intervention system theory (ISyT).
Article in Health research policy and systems, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Quantitative Methods Used to Evaluate Impact of Combination HIV Prevention Intervention: A Methodological Systematic Review.AIDS and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluating the implementation of integrated knowledge translation in a multi-country research consortium in Sub-Saharan Africa - a mixed methods comparative case study.Implementation science : IS · 2026Article
- Theory-based evaluation of user participation in MedPrev, a digital preventive intervention in primary care in France.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Understanding the conditions for inclusive education: A realist evaluation of a French territorial innovation.PloS one · 2026Article
- How health mediation can function effectively on the fostering of healthcare utilization? : a realist qualitative study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Development of an intervention for smoking cessation in pregnant women using a theory-based approach.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Exploring and describing alcohol harm reduction interventions: a scoping review of literature from the past decade in the western world.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- A review of implementation and evaluation frameworks for public health interventions to inform co-creation: a Health CASCADE study.Health research policy and systems · 2024Review
- Conditions for adherence to videoconference-based programs promoting adapted physical activity in cancer patients: a realist evaluation.Implementation science : IS · 2024Article
- Patterns in bottlenecks for implementation of health promotion interventions: a cross-sectional observational study on intervention-context interactions in the Netherlands.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Article
- Conditions for the success and the feasibility of health mediation for healthcare use by underserved populations: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Evaluation proposal of a national community-based obesity prevention programme: a novel approach considering the complexity perspective.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022Article
- 'Writing budgets for meetings and teas?': a multitheoretical analysis of intragovernmental coordination for multisectoral action for health in Uganda.BMJ global health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Given their inherent complexity, we need a better understanding of what is happening inside the "black box" of population health interventions. The theory-driven intervention/evaluation paradigm is one approach to addressing this question. However, barriers related to semantic or practical issues stand in the way of its complete integration into evaluation designs. In this paper, we attempt to clarify how various theories, models and frameworks can contribute to developing a context-dependent theory, helping us to understand the black box of population health interventions and to acknowledge their complexity. To achieve this goal, we clarify what could be referred to as "theory" in the theory-driven evaluation of the interventional system, distinguishing it from other models, frameworks and classical theories. In order to evaluate the interventional system with a theory-driven paradigm, we put forward the concept of interventional system theory (ISyT), which combines a causal theory and an action model. We suggest that an ISyT could guide evaluation processes, whatever evaluation design is applied, and illustrate this alternative method through different examples of studies. We believe that such a clarification can help to promote the use of theories in complex intervention evaluations, and to identify ways of considering the transferability and scalability of interventions.
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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.