What are the determinants of success for healthcare organisation collaboration in allied health student research projects?
Rebecca Angus1,2, Laetitia Hattingh1,2, Kelly Weir1,2,3 1Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Southport, Queensland, Australia2Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia3The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Abstract
Background:
A research culture in health care organisations is associated with improved healthcare performance. Allied health (AH) students undertake research training during their professional degrees. This may include participation in research projects, sometimes undertaken in association with health services. Co-supervision of these projects by health service staff provides research capacity building opportunities, local improvements in clinical knowledge and practice, and publications contributing to the wider clinical evidence base. We aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to engagement in and conduct of these projects to enable systems optimisation for improved health service outcomes.
Methods:
This formative evaluation used the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR) to analyse semi-structured interviews with health service-employed AH professionals recently supervising students on clinical-related research placements.
Results:
Eleven AH clinicians described 18 collaborative projects with 24 students from five AH disciplines across four universities. Three health service-employed AH research fellows described their involvement in these and other student projects. Twenty key determinant constructs were identified and mapped across all five CFIR domains. Facilitators included health service cosmopolitanism, project adaptability and implementation climate (compatibility). Health service-employed research fellows provided readiness for implementation and a facilitator for project execution. Main barriers were cost at staff personal level and project complexity aspects. Differing student characteristics affected the relative advantage of collaborative projects in positive and negative manners.
Conclusions:
Addressing the identified determinants when establishing each new collaborative student research project may enable health services to maximise the value from these, and thus ultimately, healthcare performance and patient care.
Biography
Dr Rebecca Angus is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service. She is a research specialist employed to support development, conduct and dissemination of health services research, and to build research capacity in allied health clinicians with a view to enabling best-practice patient care. Her interests are in nutrition care, allied health model of care evaluation and research capacity building strategies within health services.