%0 Journal Article
%T From complex social interventions to interventions in complex social systems: Future directions and unresolved questions for intervention development and evaluation
%A Chris Bonell
%A G.J. Melendez-Torres
%A Graham F. Moore
%A Hannah Littlecott
%A Jemma Hawkins
%A Rhiannon E. Evans
%A Simon Murphy
%J Evaluation
%@ 1461-7153
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1356389018803219
%X Complex systems approaches to social intervention research are increasingly advocated. However, there have been few attempts to consider how models of intervention science, such as the UK¡¯s Medical Research Council complex interventions framework, might be reframed through a complex systems lens. This article identifies some key areas in which this framework might be reconceptualized, and a number of priority areas where further development is needed if alignment with a systems perspective is to be achieved. We argue that a complex systems perspective broadens the parameters of ¡®relevant¡¯ evidence and theory for intervention development, before discussing challenges in defining feasibility in dynamic terms. We argue that whole systems evaluations may be neither attainable, nor necessary; acknowledgment of complexity does not mean that evaluations must be complex, or investigate all facets of complexity. However, a systems lens may add value to evaluation design through guiding identification of key uncertainties, and informing decisions such as timings of follow-up assessments
%K complex interventions
%K complex systems
%K evaluation
%K methodology
%K population health
%K social intervention
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1356389018803219