The missing link: prevention guidelines fail to include clear guidance for their implementation

This paper aims to characterise implementation recommendations within current international prevention guidelines. An audit of prevention guidelines hosted on the Guidelines International Network library was conducted. Recommendations from implementation process models were used as a guide for data extraction of eligible guidelines. This included the presence or absence of strategies, such as assessing and addressing barriers to implementation, engaging end-users in the development and execution of implementation guidelines, and the inclusion of empirical research to support implementation recommendations. Approximately two-thirds of eligible prevention guidelines included implementation recommendations. Of these guidelines, 37.5% provided guidance on assessing barriers to implementation, 14.9% made suggestions on selecting strategies to overcome barriers, and 36.6% included advice on engaging end-users in the implementation process. Only 44.6% referred to empirical evidence to support their implementation recommendations. A greater emphasis on the principles of implementation science is required during the development of prevention guidelines. This should include the utilisation of existing resources developed in consultation with implementation specialists.