A worked example of initial theory-building : PARTNERS2 collaborative care for people who have experienced psychosis in England

Gwernan-Jones, R. and Britten, N. and Allard, J. and Baker, E. and Gill, L. and Lloyd, H. and Rawcliffe, T. and Sayers, R. and Plappert, H. and Gibson, J. and Clark, M. and Birchwood, M. and Pinfold, V. and Reilly, S. and Gask, L. and Byng, R. (2020) A worked example of initial theory-building : PARTNERS2 collaborative care for people who have experienced psychosis in England. Evaluation, 26 (1). pp. 6-26. ISSN 1356-3890

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Abstract

In this article, we present an exemplar of the initial theory-building phase of theory-driven evaluation for the PARTNERS2 project, a collaborative care intervention for people with experience of psychosis in England. Initial theory-building involved analysis of the literature, interviews with key leaders and focus groups with service users. The initial programme theory was developed from these sources in an iterative process between researchers and stakeholders (service users, practitioners, commissioners) involving four activities: articulation of 442 explanatory statements systematically developed using realist methods; debate and consensus; communication; and interrogation. We refute two criticisms of theory-driven evaluation of complex interventions. We demonstrate how the process of initial theory-building made a meaningful contribution to our complex intervention in five ways. Although time-consuming, it allowed us to develop an internally coherent and well-documented intervention. This study and the lessons learnt provide a detailed resource for other researchers wishing to build theory for theory-driven evaluation.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Evaluation
Additional Information:
The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Evaluation, 26 (1), 2020, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Evaluation page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/evi on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3303
Subjects:
?? collaborative carecomplex interventionspersonal recoveryprogramme theory developmentpsychosistheory-driven evaluationdevelopmentsociology and political science ??
ID Code:
148027
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
07 Oct 2020 10:25
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
08 Jan 2024 00:19