title: Implementation fidelity in community-based interventions.
abstract: Implementation fidelity is the degree to which an intervention is delivered as intended and is critical to successful translation of evidence-based interventions into practice. Diminished fidelity may be why interventions that work well in highly controlled trials may fail to yield the same outcomes when applied in real life contexts. The purpose of this paper is to define implementation fidelity and describe its importance for the larger science of implementation, discuss data collection methods and current efforts in measuring implementation fidelity in community-based prevention interventions, and present future research directions for measuring implementation fidelity that will advance implementation science.
authors.affiliation: Rush University College of Nursing, Chicago, 600 South Paulina St., Armour Academic Center, Office 1041A, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Breitenstein
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Garvey
authors.forename: Carri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fogg
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Resnick
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003153:Community Health Services; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D019370:Observation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D011594:Psychometrics; D012107:Research Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013637:Tape Recording; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic; D014741:Video Recording