Using Normalisation Process Theory to Develop a Complex Intervention: A Qualitative Case Study of Screening for Homelessness in Healthcare Settings
Nilakshi Gunatillaka, Tze Lin Chai, Suzanne Nielsen, Belinda Hammond, Kimberley Norman, Helen Skouteris, Elizabeth Sturgiss · 2026
Read Using Normalisation Process Theory to Develop a Complex Intervention: A Qualitative Case Study of Screening for Homelessness in Healthcare Settings by Nilakshi Gunatillaka, Tze Lin Chai, Suzanne Nielsen, Belinda Hammond, Kimberley Norman, Helen Skouteris, Elizabeth Sturgiss (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13239565.txt.
Description
Nilakshi Gunatillaka and co-authors showed in 2026 how a theory of implementation can design, not just judge, a health intervention. Normalisation Process Theory explains how new practices settle into routine care. The team applied it early, while shaping a plan to screen for homelessness in Australian emergency and primary care settings. Interviews supplied the raw material: thirty health workers and nine people with lived experience of homelessness.
Workers could tell screening apart from their current work but doubted its use and resisted the extra load. Staff in Aboriginal community-controlled and community health services showed more readiness than hospital staff. Patients wanted workers to grasp how housing shapes health and to adapt care. The authors say designing with the theory surfaces barriers before launch. That gives new programs a better chance to stick.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Nilakshi Gunatillaka, Tze Lin Chai, Suzanne Nielsen, Belinda Hammond, Kimberley Norman, Helen Skouteris, Elizabeth Sturgiss |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 44 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |