Check What Was Delivered Before Borrowing an Intervention Rationale
An intervention's name is not a complete description of what participants received. Before borrowing a rationale, check delivery, support, timing, adaptation, and what actually happened.
The worked examples are teaching aids. Check them against your own source material and the requirements of your specific task.
Start with the task
The original TIDieR checklist and guide addresses reporting details needed to understand and replicate interventions, including planned and actual delivery.
Compare the label with the package
Imagine a fictional study labelled “written education.” The full report reveals an information sheet, a guided conversation, a follow-up call, and staff training. Citing its result as evidence for handing out a sheet alone removes several parts of the studied package.
Record who delivered the intervention, what materials and procedures were used, where and when delivery occurred, and what support accompanied it. Do not assume that an omitted component is unimportant.
Check delivery against the plan
Look for information about attendance, completion, modifications, and how delivery was assessed. A programme offered as designed may differ from what participants actually received.
This does not mean every deviation invalidates the study. It means the interpretation should reflect the intervention that the data can describe.
Do not infer fidelity from the authors' use of a familiar programme name.
Keep the rationale honest
Compare the study package with the supplied assignment case and applicable guidance. If the case lacks key delivery conditions, explain the gap rather than silently importing them.
A care-plan rationale may need a more specific source or a narrower claim. Any real implementation decision requires appropriate local policy, supervision, resources, and professional judgement.
Use the intervention-rationale guide to write that connection. In Nursevi, keep the source's actual intervention description beside the rationale so a short label does not promise an effect that was never studied on its own.