Measuring growth in research capacity and capability of allied health professionals at a regional Australian public health service: 2011-2023.

introductionClinicians within public healthcare organisations, including allied health professionals are becoming increasingly research active. Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS) employed an embedded Research Fellow in 2010 to build the capacity and capability under a state-wide initiative resulting in increased activity over time. A Research Capability Framework (RCF) was introduced in 2018 with intent of having a briefer measure of activity than the previously used research 'spider'. This study measures and explores the growth in research capacity and capability over 12 years.

methodsA mixed methods triangulation design compared two ways of measuring research capacity including interviews and self-rating of the RCF objectives by Discipline Directors (DD), and a survey of allied health professionals to measure their level of research experience and knowledge of health services research methods. The interviews were themed and quantitative data was analysed descriptively.

results12 DDs, 5 Team Leaders and 105 clinicians participated. Four major themes were identified from the interviews: clinical practice provides a rich environment for quality improvement and research activity, influence of health service managers on research culture, prioritising clinical care over research, and the effect of collaborations on research. High levels of research participation were noted, and varying levels of methods knowledge were evident. DISCUSSION: Similar results in consuming and producing research activity by both instruments suggest the shorter RCF could replace the more onerous research spider. Qualitative data collected simultaneously with the Objective ratings can be used to plan the future direction of capacity building efforts. The high levels of experience in quality improvement skills but limited knowledge of research translation methods suggest this knowledge gap may be a barrier to the translation of allied health research.