Lesson 6: Program Fidelity
What is fidelity and why does it matter?
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Fidelity simply refers to delivering the program the way that the developers intended. Just like following a recipe, there are some ‘key ingredients‘ that must be included to get the intended result. The Dino Island program enables interventionists to work flexibly with children in their care and according to the children’s needs and personal strengths. However, getting too creative with the ‘recipe’ (ex: leaving out key ingredients, like the metacognitive strategies) can mean that you are no longer delivering the program with fidelity as intended.
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Fidelity maximizes the likelihood of positive outcomes for the child. For maximal outcomes, we want to see children using strategies, engaging their metacognition, and showing gains in their ability to focus, remember, and self-regulate.
Interventionists can maximize fidelity by focusing on the following:
Child Engagement
- Child engagement in the program (i.e., how well they are focusing on the training program and trying) is important for maximizing good outcomes.
- While the training can be difficult and frustrating at times, remember that a positive attitude is contagious!
Adherence/Quality of Delivery
- By going through the entire Dino Island training site, reviewing tips provided on the site, and learning/practicing the strategies, you help ensure that the program is delivered in the most effective way possible.
- Utilize the ‘cheat sheets’ and additional resources within the website, as these are intended to help you learn the intervention techniques as you are striving to help the child.
- Please consider printing these sheets and having them handy during sessions, especially early on in the intervention as both you and the child are learning.
Exposure/Duration
- While unforeseen events can cause sessions to have to be rescheduled or an individual session to be cut short, this should be avoided as much as possible.
- If this happens, try to make up the time by scheduling an additional session or by extending the following session in length.
- If major obstacles arise for intervention delivery, please consult with the research team so that we can problem solve solutions with you.
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