Short course: Developing and Evaluating Complex Public Health Interventions

Who is it for?

Researchers, PhD students, practitioners and policy makers. No prior knowledge is assumed.

Brief Overview of the Course

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to different methods used for developing and evaluating complex public health interventions. You will learn about difference methods and approaches used for developing new interventions and evaluating them. This includes how to develop an intervention ‘logic model’ and how DECIPHer works with policy-makers, health professionals and the public to co-produce interventions and pilot and evaluate intervention effectiveness.

The course is delivered by experts in the field of public health intervention from DECIPHer and our collaborating institutions including Welsh Government, University of Bristol, University of Exeter, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of Sheffield and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. 

What will I learn?

• Theory and rationale underpinning the socio-ecological model;
• Typologies and examples of complex interventions;
• Complex systems perspectives;
• Research methods and tools for intervention development, including the 2019 INDEX guidance;
• Frameworks for intervention evaluation;
• Use of logic models to inform design and evaluation of interventions;
• Public involvement and co-production methods;
• Adaptation of complex interventions to new contexts;
• Process evaluation;
• Feasibility studies and pilot trials;
• Randomised controlled trials;
• Natural experiments and data linkage;
• Economic evaluation of complex interventions.

Pre-requisites

No previous experience or knowledge of intervention development is required.

Recommended reading

There will be no pre-reading required for this course, and all course materials/hand-outs will be provided at the start of the course.