Finding meaning: A realist-informed perspective on social risk screening and relationships as mechanisms of change

This paper provides an example of realist-informed evaluation being used in healthcare settings in the United States of America.

A realist approach was utilised, following the Context-Mechanism-Outcome concept and "was composed of iterative cycles of developing, testing and refining program theories about how the intervention did—or didn't—work, for whom, and under what circumstances." Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) was also used to frame the realist analysis.

"The realist program theories highlighted the effectiveness and importance of intervention components and implementation strategies that support trusting relationships as mechanisms of change."