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When is adaptation necessary?
A psychosocial intervention can be adapted before and during its implementation. Adaptation needs may concern the content or execution of an intervention, the related training, or the evaluation of the intervention.
The need to adapt an intervention should be assessed whenever an intervention that has been proven to be effective outside Finland is implemented here. Further, the assessment should be made when an intervention that is already in use and it is introduced in different services or for a new target group.
Even if an intervention has been proven to be effective in one context, it is not necessarily equally effective in a different context. In such a situation, a careful assessment of the reasons why the intervention is not delivering the desired results is needed. Consequent adaptation of an intervention may improve the intervention’s effectiveness.
Sometimes even substantial modification of an intervention may be justified, as long as their effects on the intervention’s acceptability, usability and effectiveness are systematically evaluated and the adaptations are carefully documented.
Identifying adaptation needs
The adaptation of an intervention may be necessary in the following situations, for example:
- Professionals repeatedly highlight the need to modify the intervention to suit their work or the needs of their clients.
- There is a desire to use the intervention in a new context (in a school setting instead of family work, for instance).
- There is a desire to adapt a face-to-face intervention into a digital intervention.
- There is a desire to adapt a group intervention into an individual intervention.
- There is a change in the target group (for example, from adolescents to children under school age).
- Different language versions of the intervention will be implemented, which calls for cultural adaptation. This can help to ensure that the language is understandable and acceptable.
- The context in which the intervention is used has changed significantly over time.
Careful assessment of adaptation needs and preservation of core components
Preserving the core components of the intervention should be the primary concern when assessing the extent and focus of the intervention’s modification needs. Core components refer to the functions, features or factors that are essential for achieving the desired results of an intervention. As a rule, the core components should not be modified.
The intermediary organisation may provide support for identifying the core components of an intervention. The core components may also be described in research publications concerning the intervention or the intervention manual if one is available.