Developing an implementation fidelity checklist for a vocational rehabilitation intervention

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Implementation Science

Background:

• Implementation fidelity is crucial for complex interventions but often underreported.
• Measuring fidelity is essential for understanding intervention effectiveness.
• The RETAKE trial focuses on early, stroke-specialist vocational rehabilitation (ESSVR).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fidelity checklist for the ESSVR intervention within the RETAKE trial.
• To create a reliable tool for assessing the implementation of vocational rehabilitation for stroke survivors.

Main Methods:

• Reviewed existing fidelity checklists and intervention components.
• A checklist was developed and ratified by eight experts.
• Two researchers assessed interrater reliability using retrospective case notes.

Main Results:

• A 21-core and 6-desirable component fidelity checklist with guidance notes was created.
• Interrater reliability for checklist items ranged from moderate to perfect (Cohen's kappa 0.69-1).

Conclusions:

• The developed checklist effectively assesses ESSVR implementation fidelity via retrospective case review.
• This tool is valuable for evaluating vocational rehabilitation delivery and informing future implementation strategies.