A realist approach to eliciting the initial programme theory of the antiretroviral treatment adherence club intervention in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.

The initial programme theory describes how (dynamics) and why (theories) the adherence club intervention is expected to work. By testing theories in "real intervention cases" using the realist evaluation approach, the theories can be modified, refuted and/or reconstructed to elicit a refined theory of how and why the adherence club intervention works.