Abstract
This session serves as an introduction to the symposium by providing a description of realist methodology. This is a theory-driven approach to evidence-review and evaluation, which seeks to explain why interventions work by identifying underlying mechanisms that can elucidate how outcomes are obtained and how contexts influence this process. Outcomes (O) are measurable and tangible effects of an intervention, mechanisms (M) are the generative forces that lead to outcomes and contexts (C) are background conditions that trigger or modify the behaviour of a mechanism. Realist methods can use data from literature alongside novel qualitative and quantitative data to understand these phenomena. The objective is to generate a mid-level Programme Theory specifying CMO relationships at a level of abstraction that allows transferability to other settings without claiming universality. This symposium will present examples of these concepts in action in a study of health care delivery in UK long-term care homes.