Civic Engagement in Neighbourhoods regarding serious illness, death and loss (CEIN): a study protocol for a convergent-parallel mixed-methods process and outcome evaluation that balances control and flexibility.

This protocol illustrates the difficulty of operationalising the desired long-term impact of social changes regarding serious illness, dying, and loss into more manageable outcomes. We recommend a well-cogitated logic model that connects the outcomes of the study to its potential actions. Applying this protocol in practice is a constant exercise between providing sufficient flexibility to meet feasibility, desirability, and context-specific needs in the CEIN study and providing sufficient guidelines to structure and control the evaluation process.