Abstract
Fidelity (also known as process evaluation) represents the accuracy with which any therapeutic or prevention intervention is implemented. This multidimensional construct is used rather scarcely in the Czech research practice.
This paper aims to introduce the fidelity, its dimensions, its importance and scope within prevention research and practice, as well as to introduce measurement procedures, the possibilities and limits when researchnig fidelity of interventions focused on prevention of risk behaviors. In studies that focus on studying effectiveness of prevention interventions, fidelity illustrates the "background" of experimentally implemented prevention activities.
Fidelity is the key to greater control (esp. confounding) variables that may have an impact on the results of the experiment. Studies that measure fidelity, often come with better results compared to studies in which fidelity is not measured.
Information that fidelity provides facilitate the development and implemention of interventions into practice. Fidelity increases the credit of the intervention under evaluation and of the research team in front of the stakeholders, and multiplies the chances when publishing results in scientific journals.
Last but not least, fidelity facilitates the rapid translation of high-quality and effective prevention interventions and other research findings into practice.