The Realist Research & Evaluation Group

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"As implementation researchers probe more deeply into hidden causal mechanisms...explanatory work shifts the focus from description to causation"

Paper:
"Potential Applications of Realist Methodologies to Implementation Science Research"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

How a geriatrician-led emergency department model works in practice: a realist evaluation AbstractBackground. Embedding geriatric medical expertise in the emergency department (ED) is proposed to improve care for older people, yet the underlying

"Programme theory 2: boundary spanning
Timely disposition planning & improved care transition"

Working in a completely different context, I am experiencing the same phenomenon

doi.org/10.1093/agei...

Applying the realist evaluation framework to a faculty mentorship program: a context–mechanism–outcome analysis at a private medical university - BMC Medical Education BMC Medical Education - The value of mentoring is crucial for the growth of faculty, and assessing its effectiveness is essential to ensure the retention of faculty members. CMO is a conceptual...

Recent Realist Reading:
"Mismatched pairings also affected mentorship quality,
‘Forced marriages are usually not considered to be very
successful’. Differences in expectations, communication
styles, and generational perspectives...can create barriers"
#RealistEvaluation

doi.org/10.1186/s129...

Bringing together realist and economic approaches in the evaluation of health and social care interventions: a scoping review of theoretical, methodological and practical implications In the evaluation of complex interventions, economic evaluations aim to determine the relative cost-effectiveness of interventions but generate little…

In continuing support of this important, inter-disciplinary work:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Optimizing Virtual Follow-Up Care: Realist Evaluation of Experiences and Perspectives of Patients With Breast and Prostate Cancer Background: Virtual follow-up (VFU) has the potential to enhance cancer survivorship care. However, a greater understanding is needed of how VFU can be optimized. Objective: This study aims to examine...

Technology features highly within the recommendations, including this:

"10. Improve the quality of VFU technology and work flows to create a seamless and reliable care experience for patients"

#VirtualCare
#RemoteCare
#NHSTech

www.jmir.org/2025/1/e65148

From this paper:

Using surveys in realist evaluation - Gill Westhorp, Simon Feeny, 2025 Realist evaluation is a theory-based approach to evaluation which examines what works in what respects and to what extent, for whom, in what contexts and how. I...

Recently, the use of surverys has come up during evaluation discussions at the hospital

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A Realist Evaluation of the Implementation and Use of Patient‐Reported Outcomes in Four Value‐Based Healthcare Programmes Aim To investigate what works when using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), for whom, in what contexts, and why in four Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) programmes. Design Realist evaluation....

An interesting multi-speciality study of PROMs

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Patients’ experiences of attending emergency departments where primary care services are located: qualitative findings from patient and clinician interviews from a realist evaluation - BMC Emergency M... Background Patient experience is an important outcome and indicator of healthcare quality, and patient reported experiences are key to improving quality of care. While patient experience in emergency ...

A selection of papers that may interest colleagues and community members:

JW

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The Future of Evaluation in Health and Social Care We are delighted to announce our upcoming Symposium on the Future of Evaluation in Health and Social Care, hosted by Northumbia University.

Aligned to the updated of the Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance outlining a new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions, this Symposium will have importance & significance for many in the UK

#MedSky
#AcademicSky
#RealistEvaluation

www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/new...

Do you know the difference between cancer stage and grade?

Grade tells us how a cancer behaves
Stage tells us if a cancer is likely to spread

Do you ever get the feeling the world’s gone crazy? With this in mind, I play the Flintstones theme in the style of the Russian classics.