Understanding the complexity of population health interventions: assessing intervention system theory (ISyT)

Given their inherent complexity, we need a better understanding of what is happening inside the “black box” of population health interventions. The theory-driven intervention/evaluation paradigm is one approach to addressing this question. However, barriers related to semantic or practical issues stand in the way of its complete integration into evaluation designs. In this paper, we attempt to clarify how various theories, models and frameworks can contribute to developing a context-dependent theory, helping us to understand the black box of population health interventions and to acknowledge their complexity. To achieve this goal, we clarify what could be referred to as “theory” in the theory-driven evaluation of the interventional system, distinguishing it from other models, frameworks and classical theories. In order to evaluate the interventional system with a theory-driven paradigm, we put forward the concept of interventional system theory (ISyT), which combines a causal theory and an action model. We suggest that an ISyT could guide evaluation processes, whatever evaluation design is applied, and illustrate this alternative method through different examples of studies. We believe that such a clarification can help to promote the use of theories in complex intervention evaluations, and to identify ways of considering the transferability and scalability of interventions.