Justification, rationale and methodological approaches to realist reviews

Alice Pearsons; Lis Neubeck; Jeroen M Hendriks; Coral L Hanson

doi:10.1093/eurjcn/zvac068

Justification, rationale and methodological approaches to realist reviews

Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2023 Jan 12;22(1):107-112. doi: 10.1093/eurjcn/zvac068.

Authors

Alice Pearsons¹, Lis Neubeck^{1

2}, Jeroen M Hendriks^{3

4}, Coral L Hanson¹

Affiliations

¹ Edinburgh Napier University, School of Health and Social Care, Sighthill Campus, Sighthill Court, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK.
² Sydney Nursing School, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Johns Hopkins Road, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
³ Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Port Road, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia.
⁴ Flinders University, Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA 5001, Australia.

PMID: 35881526
DOI: 10.1093/eurjcn/zvac068

Abstract

Realist reviews offer a method to understand why an intervention is successful or not. Many factors influence how complex healthcare interventions are delivered and this makes understanding what works difficult. Effectiveness depends on delivery context, and success in one setting does not guarantee the same result in alternate settings. How an intervention works (the underlying mechanisms) in a particular setting for one population group, may not work in the same way for a different group. A realist review provides an iterative theory-driven approach to help understand how and for whom and under what conditions an intervention works.

Keywords: Interventions; Realist review; Research methods.

MeSH terms

Delivery of Health Care*
Humans