Twenty seven professionals across India participated in a three-day hybrid workshop on Realist Evaluation for Health Policy and Program Evaluation from 3rd to 5th July 2024.
The workshop was led by Prashanth N Srinivas, Director of Institute of Public Health (IPH) Bengaluru, and Dr. Pragati Hebbar, Assistant Director for Research with guest lectures by Bruno Marchal, Brynne Gilmore and Dr. Praveenkumar Aivalli. This workshop was supported by project Realist Evaluation Advancement Lab for Implementation Strategy Explanations (REALISE), DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance and the Centre for Training Research and Innovation in Tribal Health (CTRITH).
Day one began with Dr. Tanya Seshadri, Assistant Director for Education at IPH, inaugurated the workshop. The session included discussions on complexity, systems thinking, ontology, epistemology, and the application of realist and theory-driven methods across HPSR research questions. Concepts of policies, programs, and evaluation entry points were explored, followed by an interactive session by Dr. Marchal on refining Realist Evaluation (RE) research questions to further the participant’s understanding of the methodology.
On day two participants developed initial program theories and learnt the systematic steps of RE. The sessions featured topics like realist synthesis, case studies, and collaborative learning through the “Learning Together” activity. Participants, split into five groups, analyzed C-M-O configurations, middle-range theories. Another insightful session on day two was facilitated by Dr. Brynne Gilmore who focused on data analysis and synthesis in RE which was followed by the presentation of a case study in applying RE by Mr. Praveen Aivalli, PhD scholar at UCD Dublin (a part of the previous cohort of the same workshop).
Day three began with a session on Theory of Change. Participants applied their knowledge by developing a realist study plan and presenting it to facilitators. Later discussions focused on resources, support for RE practitioners, and quality standards in Realist Evaluation and Synthesis.. The workshop concluded with ideas for nurturing a community of practice and continued collaboration.
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