HES Research Dialogues: Methods Brief II - Household Economic Strengthening Interventions: Guidelines for Implementation Procedure Reporting

This brief proposes standardized guidelines for reporting implementation procedures so that researchers can better evaluate household economic strengthening (HES) interventions and practitioners can better implement them. Although there is a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of HES interventions, studies most often provide little information on how these interventions were actually implemented. This limitation is not unique to the field of HES intervention research. Nonetheless, it is crucial for HES program developers and implementers to improve the level of reporting on program context, implementation procedures, and any problems that might have occurred on the ground and how they were resolved. It is essential to know, for example, how many sessions were provided, what content was covered, how long the sessions lasted, whether and how community buy-in was assured, how well the sessions were attended, and how facilitators were trained. Detailed, systematic records about the implementation process for any HES intervention are essential in order for organizations and impact evaluators to understand why the intervention was successful or unsuccessful.