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Implementation and Adaptation Guide

 

Home | Table of Contents | Pre-Implementation | Implementation | Sustainment | Resources | Glossary | Contact Us

 

Picture of three arrows that read preimplementation, implementation, and sustainment and the preimplementation arrow is in color

Adapting a Program to Your Needs


When you take an existing intervention or implementation strategy to a new setting or population, you will almost always need to change the program and strategy to fit with your local needs, priorities, and resources. In some cases the context itself needs to change to be amenable to the program and strategy we propose.

Picture of three arrows that read preimplementation, implementation, and sustainment and the preimplementation arrow is in color

Adaptations to the intervention, the implementation strategy, and the context will also happen at different times during the lifetime of a program:

  • before you put the program into place (pre-implementation),
  • during implementation, and
  • at later stages in the program as you prepare for scale out or scale up and sustainment.

In this section we focus on pre-implementation adaptations. Later sections will focus on processes that can help with adapting during implementation or sustainment.

How to make planned adaptations before implementation:


An ideal approach for adaptations is planned. You can try a five-step process that can guide adaptations that are made before you start to use the program:

Step 1: Assess fit and consider adaptation

Step 2: Assess acceptability and importance of the adaptation

Step 3: Make final decisions about what and how to adapt

Step 4: Make adaptations

Step 5: Pretest and pilot test if the program is still effective

 

Previous: Preparing for Implementation / Next: Secrets to Successful Adaptation

 

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