Design and development of a film-based intervention about teenage men and unintended pregnancy: applying the Medical Research Council framework in practice

Áine Aventin*, Maria Lohan, Peter O'Halloran, Marion Henderson

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    16 Citations (Scopus)
    14 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Following the UK Medical Research Council's (MRC) guidelines for the development and evaluation of complex interventions, this study aimed to design, develop and optimise an educational intervention about young men and unintended teenage pregnancy based around an interactive film. The process involved identification of the relevant evidence base, development of a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of unintended teenage pregnancy in relation to young men, and exploratory mixed methods research. The result was an evidence-based, theory-informed, user-endorsed intervention designed to meet the much neglected pregnancy education needs of teenage men and intended to increase both boys' and girls' intentions to avoid an unplanned pregnancy during adolescence. In prioritising the development phase, this paper addresses a gap in the literature on the processes of research-informed intervention design. It illustrates the application of the MRC guidelines in practice while offering a critique and additional guidance to programme developers on the MRC prescribed processes of developing interventions. Key lessons learned were: (1) know and engage the target population and engage gatekeepers in addressing contextual complexities; (2) know the targeted behaviours and model a process of change; and (3) look beyond development to evaluation and implementation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)19-30
    Number of pages12
    JournalEvaluation and Program Planning
    Volume49
    Early online date15 Nov 2014
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2015

    Funding

    The development process reported in this article was funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council ( RES-189-25-0300 ), the Irish Health Service Executive's Crisis Pregnancy Programme and the Health and Social Care Public Health Agency Northern Ireland. The Jack Trial, a feasibility trial of this intervention is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) Programme (project number 12/153/26). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR PHR Programme or the Department of Health. We gratefully acknowledge Dr Danny Wight's comments on a draft manuscript.

    Keywords

    • behavioural interventions
    • intervention development
    • sex education
    • teenage men
    • unintended pregnancy

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Design and development of a film-based intervention about teenage men and unintended pregnancy: applying the Medical Research Council framework in practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this