Evidence-based guidelines published by health authorities for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (PA), continue to be implemented unsuccessfully and demonstrate a gap between evidence and policies. This review synthesizes evidence on factors influencing delivery, adoption and implementation of PA promotion guidelines within different policy sectors (e.g., health, transport, urban planning, sport, education).
Published literature was initially searched using PubMed, EBSCO, Google Scholar and continued through an iterative snowball technique. The literature review spanned the period 2002-2017. The realist synthesis approach was adopted to review the content of 39 included studies. An initial programme theory with a four-step chain from evidence emersion to implementation of guidelines was tested.
The synthesis furthers our understanding of the link between PA guidelines delivery and the actions of professionals responsible for implementation within health services, school departments and municipalities. The main mechanisms identified for guidance implementation were scientific legitimation, enforcement, feasibility, familiarity with concepts and PA habits. Threats emerged to the successful implementation of PA guidelines at national/local jurisdictional levels.
The way PA guidelines are developed may influence their adoption by policy-makers and professionals. Useful lessons emerged that may inform synergies between policymaking and professional practices, promoting win-win multisectoral strategies.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with the implementability of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and to determine what characteristics improve their uptake.
METHODS: We conducted a realist review, which involved searching multiple sources (eg, databases, experts) to determine what about guideline implementability works, for whom, and under what circumstances. Two sets of reviewers independently screened abstracts and extracted data from 278 included studies. Analysis involved the development of a codebook of definitions, validation of data, and development of hierarchical narratives to explain guideline implementability.
RESULTS: We found that guideline implementability is associated with two broad goals in guideline development: (1) creation of guideline content, which involves addressing the domains of stakeholder involvement in CPGs, evidence synthesis, considered judgment (eg, clinical applicability), and implementation feasibility and (2) the effective communication of this content, which involves domains related to fine-tuning the CPG\'s message (using simple, clear, and persuasive language) and format.
CONCLUSIONS: Our work represents a comprehensive and interdisciplinary effort toward better understanding, which attributes of guidelines have the potential to improve uptake in clinical practice. We also created codebooks and narratives of key concepts, which can be used to create tools for developing better guidelines to promote better care.