PHC RIS research activities

PHC RIS are interested in the pathways by which a research project impacts on its environment and how they can be enhanced. The Primary Health Care Research Impact Project (PHC RIP) is a large study to assess the impact of a large sample of primary health care research projects and how this occurred. The project is being conducted in two stages. Phase 1, conducted during 2006, studied four randomly selected, large research projects and trialed a methodology for gathering information to assess the impact of primary health care research.  The preferred RQF model, released in October 2006, will assess both the quality and the impact of university research. The report from Phase 1 gives guidance for researchers in compiling case studies and gathering Generic and Specific Outcome data for the RQF. Our findings suggested that primary health care research can have a great deal of impact and can potentially do well with impact assessment, however it will require some new ways of working. Phase 2 of our study is currently in progress during 2007. 

The objectives of Phase 2 are to:

• Find out what difference primary health care research makes to policy and practice;
• Explore the pathways by which these projects had an impact on their environment;
• Analyse the extent to which these pathways are consistent with existing theoretical models explaining the movement of research into policy and/or practice.
• Make recommendations on how these pathways may be enhanced.

The research team for Phase 2 is Associate Professor Libby Kalucy, Eleanor Jackson Bowers, Associate Professor Ellen McIntyre, Dr Gerhard Winter and Professor Richard Reed. The project has an Advisory Committee with members from AGPN, AAAGP, APHCRI, NICS, NHMRC and Flinders University. For more information on Phase 2 please contact Eleanor.Jackson-Bowers@flinders.edu.au

PHC RIS organises the annual General Practice and Primary Health Care Research Conference - a major event in Australian general practice and primary health care research, to present research findings, discuss research methodology and policy issues, and build and maintain essential networks between researchers, practitioners, policy makers and representatives of consumer organisations.

Given that networking has been reported as an important feature at conferences, this project was undertaken to find out whether and how networking happens at the GP & PHC Research Conference, so as to determine how to enhance networking at future conferences. The report of this project, Connecting people: The magic of networking at conferences is now available.

Each year, PHC RIS conducts the Annual Survey of Divisions (ASD). The ASD is a comprehensive survey completed by all Divisions of General Practice in Australia to collect information on their membership, activities and infrastructure. This longitudinal data collection reflects the development and maturation of Divisions and their responses to emerging national policies.

PHC RIS collates and 'maps' on-line research registers and databases that contain information about past, present and current research projects relevant to primary health care. ROAR is a resource that helps funders, policy makers, researchers, and practitioners locate research projects in order to raise awareness of current and recently completed research, reduce duplication of effort, identify gaps, and to facilitate the development of collaborative research partnerships.

Leading on from JournalWatch: Collaborative Partnerships in Research the Effective Links Project was planned and successfully conducted as a collaborative research project between PHC RIS and the Australian Divisions of General Practice (now known as the Australian General Practive Network). The project aimed to strengthen links between Divisions of General Practice and the university sector by exploring the experiences and perceptions of a sample of participants from Divisions and universities who were involved in or had an interest in research and evaluation activity.

One of the applied research projects conducted during 2004-05 explored how to maximise the effectiveness of posters as dissemination tools. This contributed to our strategy of developing our capacity to measure impact of information in short and long term. Two articles were accepted for publication by the international journal BMJ Careers. Research posters: the way to display, by Belinda Lowcay and Ellen McIntyre, was published in December 2005 and the second article was published in January 2006. This project was extended to a program of activity designed to teach our stakeholders how to maximise the effectiveness of dissemination tools such as research posters, power point presentations, and personal presentation skills. Belinda Lowcay presented practical skill building sessions in this area at a number of conferences including the GP & PHC Research Conference, the Public Health Association of Australia Conference, the Department of General Practice seminar series, and the NSW PHC Research and Evaluation Conference. PHC RIS staff also developed (or revised) fact sheets related to dissemination. These included: Design and present posters for maximum impact, Oral presentations: preparation and delivery and Power point presentations.