NIHR global health research (GHR) themed programme theory of change

Established in 2006, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) seeks to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Its programmes, schemes and initiatives support high quality research in a broad range of topic areas that benefit the health and social care system in the UK and internationally. The Global Health Research (GHR) Themed Programme funds applied health research that prevents, detects and responds to key global health security threats and challenges focused in low and middle income countries (LMICs) within sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Through an annual researcher-led themed funding opportunity different defined themes within these NIHR priority areas and geographies will be addressed. This theory of change engaged internal (NIHR) stakeholders and members of the global health research team at the DHSC in its development. It is designed to assist the design, implementation and evaluation of the GHR Themed Programme. A theory of change outlines the resources which will be put into the programme (‘inputs’), the activities which will take place over the course of the programme and the outputs or direct results of the programme. It then details the outcomes or changes that might be expected as a result of these other components of the programme, along with the assumptions that must hold for this to occur. This theory of change spans the breadth of the GHR Themed Programme and captures the programme's intended outcomes as a whole.