How does capacity building of health managers work? A realist evaluation study protocol

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Management Science

Background:

• Human resource management (HRM) interventions are crucial for improving health services in low- and middle-income countries.
• Research on the implementation and effectiveness of HRM interventions in healthcare is limited.
• This study addresses the need for rigorous evaluation of capacity-building programs for health workers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a district-level capacity-building intervention for health managers in Karnataka, India.
• To identify determinants of health worker performance in managerial roles.
• To understand the mechanisms through which capacity building impacts health management.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes realist evaluation methodology to understand 'what works, for whom, and under what conditions'.
• Employs a mixed-methods approach, including surveys and qualitative interviews with health managers.
• Develops and refines programme theory using context-mechanism-outcome configurations.

Main Results:

• The study protocol outlines the planned data collection and analysis for evaluating the intervention.
• Focuses on understanding the interplay of organizational culture, self-efficacy, and supervision.
• Aims to generate evidence on the effectiveness of capacity building in improving planning and supervision skills.

Conclusions:

• Realist evaluation offers a robust framework for studying complex HRM interventions in health.
• Findings will contribute to a better understanding of how to design and implement effective health workforce development programs.
• Highlights the potential of realist evaluation to address methodological challenges in health systems research.