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What shapes research and research capacity building in rural health services? Context matters

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journal contribution
posted on 2022-07-27, 23:57 authored by A Wong Shee, C Quilliam, D Corboy, K Glenister, Carol McKinstryCarol McKinstry, A Beauchamp, L Alston, D Maybery, D Aras, K Mc Namara
Objective: To determine the contextual factors influencing research and research capacity building in rural health settings. Design: Qualitative study using semi-structured telephone interviews to collect data regarding health professionals’ research education and capacity building. Analysis involved inductive coding using Braun and Clark’s thematic analysis; and deductive mapping to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Setting: Victorian rural health services and university campuses. Participants: Twenty senior rural health managers, academics and/or research coordinators. Participants had at least three years’ experience in rural public health, health-related research or health education settings. Main outcome measures: Contextual factors influencing the operationalisation and prioritisation of research capacity building in rural health services. Results: Findings reflected the CFIR domains and constructs: intervention characteristics (relative advantage); outer setting (cosmopolitanism, external policies and incentives); inner setting (implementation climate, readiness for implementation); characteristics of individuals (self-efficacy); and process (planning, engaging). Findings illustrated the implementation context and the complex contextual tensions, which either prevent or enhance research capacity building in rural health services. Conclusions: Realising the Australian Government’s vision for improved health service provision and health outcomes in rural areas requires a strong culture of research and research capacity building in rural health services. Low levels of rural research funding, chronic workforce shortages and the tension between undertaking research and delivering health care, all significantly impact the operationalisation and prioritisation of research capacity building in rural health services. Effective policy and investment addressing these contextual factors is crucial for the success of research capacity building in rural health services.

Funding

Western Alliance Health Research

History

Publication Date

2022-06-01

Journal

Australian Journal of Rural Health

Volume

30

Issue

3

Pagination

(p. 410-421)

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

1038-5282

Rights Statement

© 2022 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.