Health Affairs v37(2) 28 February 2018
- Replicating successful health care interventions in new contexts is essential for maximizing their benefits for patients, it is also a well-recognized challenge. A commonly seen phenomenon is that when initially successful interventions are spread to new settings, they fail to achieve the same impact—or indeed any impact at all.
- This article examines a range of case studies, including recent research and programs in the UK, which have been selected because they illuminate these challenges of context, adaptation, and program design. The article begins with a brief consideration of why complexity poses challenges for conceptualizing and replicating interventions and then considers the implications for describing interventions and supporting their diffusion.
