Use of Intervention Mapping to Enhance Health Care Professional Practice: A Systematic Review

Intervention Mapping is a planning protocol for developing behavior change interventions, the first three steps of which are intended to establish the foundations and rationales of such interventions.

This systematic review aimed to identify programs that used Intervention Mapping to plan changes in health care professional practice. Specifically, it provides an analysis of the information provided by the programs in the first three steps of the protocol to determine their foundations and rationales of change.

A literature search was undertaken in PubMed, Scopus, SciELO, and DOAJ using "Intervention Mapping" as keyword. Key information was gathered, including theories used, determinants of practice, research methodologies, theory-based methods, and practical applications.

Seventeen programs aimed at changing a range of health care practices were included. The social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior were the most frequently used frameworks in driving change within health care practices. Programs used a large variety of research methodologies to identify determinants of practice. Specific theory-based methods (e.g., modelling and active learning) and practical applications (e.g., health care professional training and facilitation) were reported to inform the development of practice change interventions and programs.

In practice, Intervention Mapping delineates a three-step systematic, theory- and evidence-driven process for establishing the theoretical foundations and rationales underpinning change in health care professional practice.

The use of Intervention Mapping can provide health care planners with useful guidelines for the theoretical development of practice change interventions and programs.