Developing an evidence base for behavioural interventions: A case study of the Headsprout® Early Reading programme

Evidence informed decision making is considered best practice when choosing interventions in applied settings across health, social care, and education. Developing that evidence base, however, is not straightforward. The Sharland Foundation Developmental Disabilities Applied Behavioural Research and Impact Network (SF-DDARIN), a network of like-minded researchers and practitioners from across the UK has implemented a process that systematically develops an evidence base for behaviourally based interventions.

In this case study we describe the progressive research steps undertaken by the SF-DDARIN to develop the evidence base for an on-line reading intervention, the Headsprout® Early Reading programme (HER®) which uses behavioural principles to promote learning to read.

A series of discrete projects targeting gaps in the evidence base for HER® led to the funding of two Randomised Controlled Trials in England, one in Education and one in Health and Social Care.

This case study illustrates an original, creative and effective way of collaborating across academic research departments and applied settings, to systematically extend the evidence base for a chosen intervention.