The Balance Between Adaptation and Fidelity

Whenever you are implementing an intervention, there will always be the battle between fidelity and adaptation.  Depending on the environment you are in, there might need to be certain changes to your implementation strategy. However, one must be cautious to not corrupt the theoretical basis of an intervention. If an intervention is deployed incorrectly because of slight changes made during adaptation, it is seen as an implementation failure. When using an adaptive intervention, it is important to consider if there is an appropriate fidelity-adaption balance. The article A Modified Theoretical Framework to Assess Implementation Fidelity of Adaptive Public Health Interventions sheds light on this delicate balance. This article discusses fidelity research conducted on the implementation of an empowerment strategy for dengue prevention in Cuba. To learn more about how these researchers examined the balance between fidelity and adaptation, click here.