Dr Caitlin Brandenburg1,2, Prof Elizabeth Ward1,2, Ms Susan Stoikov1, Dr Rachelle Pitt3, Ms Liza-Jane McBride3
1Centre for Functioning and Health Research, Metro South Health, Australia, 2School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia, 3Office for the Chief Allied Health Officer, Queensland Health, , Australia
Biography:
Dr Caitlin Brandenburg is a Research Fellow at Metro South Health, Gold Coast Health, and Bond University in Queensland. Caitlin's research interests are in health services research and clinician research capacity building.
Abstract:
Background:
Allied Health (AH) clinicians have increasingly grown their research careers within health services. However, frameworks that enable staff to map their research capabilities often focus on an academic context, and fail to take into account the broad range of research roles that exist within health services, such as research capacity building roles. This project aimed to develop a research career capability framework for AH research careers within Queensland Health.
Methods:
Four sequential phases were employed: 1) A rapid review which generated potential capabilities for the framework; 2) Refinement of these into an initial set of capabilities by a Project Reference Group (PRG); 3) An e-Delphi survey across Queensland stakeholders to gain consensus on included capabilities; and 4) Final refinement of capabilities and development of other framework elements via a PRG survey and consultation process.
Results:
The rapid review identified 2,125 potential capability statements from 12 articles, which were synthesized into 73 capabilities by the PRG. A 2-round e-Delphi with 48 participants further refined these capabilities. The final framework included 61 capabilities under five domains: Research knowledge and skills; Research impact and translation; Clinical and healthcare research context; Research leadership and strategy; and Research capacity building and mentorship.
Discussion/Conclusion:
Using a multi-phase approach, a research capability framework which represented the diversity of AH research careers within health services was developed. The finalised framework is currently being used in Queensland Health to support skills mapping and research career development. Other tools to supplement the framework are currently being developed.