ArticleNIHR open research2026
Developing community-based programme theories to address unmet needs of people experiencing homelessness and severe mental illness: protocol for a realist review.
Article in NIHR open research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Introduction: People experiencing both homelessness and severe mental illness have complex needs requiring coordinated multi-sectoral and multilevel interventions. Several systematic reviews of interventions exist internationally; however, evidence on the mechanism of change and contextual factors is limited. The proposed realist review aims to synthesize evidence to understand what interventions work, how, why, for whom, and under what circumstances in low and middle-income country settings. Methods: This work is nested within the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Group on Homelessness and Mental Health in Africa (HOPE) project in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya. In HOPE, we use participatory methods to develop and evaluate community-based interventions to address the unmet needs of people who are homeless and have severe mental illness living in the three countries. This protocol details the methodology for a realist review to inform the development, testing, and refinement of a programme theory for intervention. The review will follow five iterative steps. Step 1: Clarify the review scope and develop initial programme theories (IPTs). Step 2: Search for evidence across electronic databases and hand search for published studies to test and refine the IPTs. Step 3: Select and appraise studies. Step 4: Extract data, Step 5: Analyse and synthesize extracted data. The IPTs will be supplemented with formal theories to enhance their explanatory power. Key stakeholders will give critical inputs throughout the review process. Discussion: The findings of the realist review will inform the development of contextually relevant programme theories to address the unmet needs of people who are homeless and have severe mental illness in LMICs, which will then be tested and refined within a realist evaluation. PROSPERO registration: CRD420251067136.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.