How can realist evaluations inform decision making and public health practice?

The network for intervention research at Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen and Center for Intervention Research, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, invite to a joint seminar on realist evaluation. Associate Professor Kev Harris from Hartpury University in the UK is visiting Copenhagen, and we use this opportunity to reflect on the role of realist evaluation in complex intervention research. Realist evaluations produce knowledge to understand what works for whom and under which circumstances. At the seminar, we focus on how we can produce academic knowledge that will enable context sensitive recommendations that readily affect public health practice in the real world.

Programme

Everyone is welcome, and there is no need to register. Just show up ready to reflect on the role of social context for wicked public health problems and intervention research. Programme

Welcome

Professor Morten Hulvej Rod, Director, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark

Associate Professor Sarah Fredsted Villadsen, Research Group Leader for Complex Interventions in Public Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

How can we use realist methodology to understand how and why interventions work? And how can we influence important stakeholders with our findings?

Associate Professor Kev Harris, Hartpury University, United Kingdom

Break: Coffee and tea

Before scaling up interventions: what do we need to know?

The case of pregnancy visits in the visiting nurses’ breastfeeding support.

PhD student Anne Kristine Gadeberg, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Understanding how and under which circumstances a comprehensive school tobacco policy affects social and health care vocational students’ smoking behaviour –Results from a realist informed analysis.

PhD student Marie Pil Jensen, University of Southern Denmark

Discussion and reflection

Speakers:


Kev Harris’ main research interests lie within the areas of evidence and realist collaborative approaches to evaluation with practitioners in sports management and public health. He is passionate about knowledge exchange and disseminating academic knowledge into the real world.


Anne Kristine
Gadeberg is studying the mechanisms of change in an intervention aiming to increase breastfeeding duration and reduce social inequality in breastfeeding . The intervention ‘Breastfeeding a good start together’ is a community based breastfeeding support programme developed and evaluated in collaboration with municipalities and the Competence Center for Breastfeeding.


Marie Pil Jensen
evaluates the implementation of the multi component ‘Focus’ intervention a cluster randomized controlled trial to reduce cigarette smoking in Danish vocational schools.