Fidelity
The fidelity of implementation is the extent to which an intervention is implemented as intended (Institute for Translational Research Education, 2019). The concept was developed to determine if the developed intervention was adopted as purposed during a study. The primary aim of measuring fidelity of an intervention is to document an internal validity of a study and provide evidence that the result obtained from a treatment related to the intervention. Fidelity, as it is designed, is crucial for the effective adoption of evidence-based practice (Institute for Translational Research Education, 2019. Based on this, it is commonly expected that evidence-based practices executed with high fidelity result in better outcomes, while low fidelity results in worse outcomes. Therefore, fidelity is an important concept in a study because it assists in determining the effectiveness of evidence-based practice.
Fit and Adaptation
Fit and adaptation determine when an intervention meet the needs of the audience. For example, the audience of a study can be clients, providers or even a community (Institute for Translational Research Education, 2019). It is vital to emphasize that adaptation is a process that aims to customize an existing evidence-based practice to match a given community’s specific needs or aspirations rather than creating an entirely new program. In addition, modifying an evidence-based practice to make implementation easier, avoid sensitive themes, cling to what is known or enjoyable, or lack proper training or preparation. As a result, adaptation and fit are used to determine the effectiveness of evidence-based practice in a study.
Reference
Institute for Translational Research Education. (2019). Implementation science: Balance between fit & fidelity in evidence-based practices[Video]. YouTube.