People to resources engagement |
PHC RIS supports and engages our stakeholders by producing a wide-range of on-line and printed resources relevant to primary health care research.
PHC RIS website: coverage and usage
PHC RIS eBulletin
PHC RIS infonet
PHC RIS infoBytes and Fact Sheets
Snapshot of Australian of primary health care research
RESEARCH ROUNDup
Rapid Reponses
PHC RIS WEBSITE: COVERAGE & USE
The 24/7 benefit of a website means that PHC RIS resources can be accessed at any time, and from any location. Analysis of the geographical audience that is attracted to the PHC RIS website is evidenced in the map below. As expected, the majority of people who use the website are from Australia (85%), but its content is also of significant interest to visitors from the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Most popular resources on PHC RIS website
In 2010, the PHC RIS website had 190 203 visitors (people) from 197 countries or territories. The table below shows the Top 5 countries to visit the most pages.
Total number of visitors from |
N |
% |
1 Australia |
161 684 |
85 |
2 United States |
5 632 |
3 |
3 United Kingdom |
3 323 |
1.7 |
4 Canada |
2 738 |
1.4 |
5 New Zealand |
1 775 |
0.9 |
Others |
15 051 |
8 |
Total |
190 203 |
100 |
*'Others' includes countries such as Russia, China and many South American and African countries
The most visited resources world-wide were:
- ROAR researcher profiles (39 806 visitors)
- PHC Research Conferences (39 150 visitors)
- Divisions and SBO Profiles (27 383 visitors)
- PHC RIS infoByte: Primary Health Care (11 522 visitors)
- ROAR research projects (6 563 visitors)
This means that the combined number of visits to the ROAR researcher and project webpages for 2010 was 46 369 (excluding visitors to the funding and organisations webpages). Almost a quarter of the total traffic to the PHC RIS website visit the ROAR webpages; the far-reaching effects of ROAR could mean that your researcher profile has a significant positive impact on your research career.
The high-hitting number of visits to the PHC Research Conference web-pages reflects the level of interest in previous conferences as well as the one held in 2010. Three hundred and eighty five (385) delegates attended the 2010 PHC Research Conference, yet more than 7 000 people visited the conference abstract homepage for this year. Of these, 3 385 clicked into individual abstracts to view the presentation/workshop/poster in more detail.
 The PHC RIS Acronyms list is a popular resource designed to 'spell it out for you'! We appreciate the array of acronyms used in the primary health care research sector so our Acronyms list provides a searchable database to help you navigate your way around the jargon!
Nearly 2 100 people visited the Acronyms page in 2010. Eighty-nine new acronyms were added to the list, some of which were bought to our attention from our stakeholders, bringing the total to 1 013 acronyms.
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PHC RIS eBulletin is a weekly email designed to inform readers of recently published articles and reports, news items, media releases, upcoming conferences and courses, research grants, scholarships and fellowships, PHC RIS products and services and new and/or relevant websites in the primary health care field.
2010 saw an increase of 364 (16%) subscriptions to eBulletin from the previous year and now has over 2 200 subscribers.
The top 5 most popular eBulletin items for 2010 were:
- Medicare Locals – Discussion Paper on Governance and Functions (4 November)
- Special on Australian health reform in current MJA (22 July)
- An initial impression and response to the recently announced National Health Reform Plan (17 June)
- Australian Government releases second stage of National Health Reform Plan (15 April)
- How Australians view their health care system: Australian Health Survey 2010 Results (25 November)
PHC RIS provides an invaluable service to the primary health care research community. APHCRI regularly communicates information about its latest research findings, upcoming events and other activities through the PHC RIS eBulletin, which reaches a wide audience. Robert Wells, Director, APHCRI
In November 2010 PHC RIS developed a 'Recommended by subscriber' icon to identify eBulletinitems that had been contributed by subscribers. In less than two months eBulletin recorded 10 items that had been attributed as subscriber contributions, which suggests how important our stakeholders perceive this method of communication to be in disseminating primary health care research information.
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PHC RIS produces a bi-monthly newsletter, PHC RIS infonet, which is designed to inform, influence and enhance primary health care practice, policy and research and aims to maximise communication sharing between our stakeholders. It is available in hard copy and electronically on‑line and boasts a subscriber base of almost 3 000.
infonet issue |
Number of Hits (pages viewed) |
Number of visitors (unique users) |
February |
1 536 |
1 375 |
April |
1 383 |
1 243 |
June |
872 |
806 |
August |
1 095 |
907 |
October |
990 |
919 |
December |
1 037 |
941 |
ALL ISSUES |
6 913 |
6 191 |
PHC RIS infonet provides an opportunity for us to engage our stakeholders by inviting them to write a guest editorial or articles (see list of national contributors on p11) that would satisfy our submission criteria and be of interest and benefit to our readership. Our invitations are well received and we have been delighted with the response.
Previous issues are available to download from <www.phcris.org.au/infonet>. All contributions are welcome and the guidelines for submitting articles are available from the PHC RIS infonet webpages.
Most popular article titles for 2010
In 2010, PHC RIS produced six issues of PHC RIS infonet. The Top 5 most viewed (on-line) articles of each issue included those that referred to or reflected on the PHC Research Conference 2010 and other conference reports, along with reports of Research Capacity Building Initiative activities and achievements from PHCRED coordinators.
Editorials were also popular with those written by PHC RIS Acting Director, Ellen McIntyre:
and by APHCRI Director, Robert Wells - Research excellence will help drive reforms(December) - all making it into the Top 5 for their respective issue.
Top 5 guest articles over the year were by:
- General Practice Network South - Team approach to palliative care clinical audits (February issue)
- International Centre for Allied Health Evidence - The theory and practice of evidence implementation (June issue)
- National Institute of Clinical Studies - Clinical Practice Guidelines Portal (August issue)
- Improvement Foundation - Improving care for COPD patients through data collection (October issue)
- Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet (December issue).
Three of PHC RIS' resources also made it into the year's Top 5 most viewed PHC RIS infonet articles for their issues and were entitled:
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As part of our commitment to provide information to build capacity, PHC RIS regularly produces and updates a series of on-line factsheets called, PHC RIS infoBytes.
The infoBytes are informative and skill‑building, and provide a portal to the array of resources about Divisions of General Practice, knowledge brokering, mentoring, collaborative partnerships and international perspectives on primary health care research. In 2010 six new infoBytes were produced, bringing the total to 45.
The PHC RIS infoByte Primary Health Care is one of the most frequently visited resources on the PHC RIS website.
2010 new PHC RIS infoByte titles
And the new Engaging the Media series (also available as printed Fact Sheets - see below):
PHC RIS infoBytes are available to view from <www.phcris.org.au/infobytes>
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PHC RIS also produces a variety of printed Fact Sheets which are closely aligned to the PHC RIS infoBytes and include useful tips on dissemination, information exchange and getting your point across. New additions to the suite of Fact Sheets for 2010 were the Engaging the Media series.
The Media Fact Sheets aim to equip readers with techniques and tools to write catchy media releases and highlight how to turn research findings into a newsworthy story. The fact sheets entitled Being interviewed; Promoting your work to the media; and Writing a succinct media release, offer tactics to help researchers identify creative angles to 'sell' a health science story. They explore how to use traditional and social media, as well as stakeholder networks, to disseminate and promote your work and provide useful tips for ensuring successful radio and television interviews.
These Fact Sheets are also available in PDF and are useful resources to share at workshops and conferences <www.phcris.org.au/factsheets>. Hard copies may be ordered on-line from <www.phcris.org.au/publications/order>
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Snapshot of Australian primary health care research 2010 is a collaborative venture involving representatives from PHC RIS, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, Australian Association for Academic General Practice and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Since 2008, researchers who have been awarded funding through the PHCRED Strategy, are invited to submit an abstract of their completed research to be considered for inclusion in the annual edition of Snapshot. The 2010 edition portrayed research relevant to the key directions of primary health care reform in Australia.
Two tales of success
Professor Tom Brett is one of 11 researchers to have successfully submitted his research into Snapshot 2010. Working at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, WA, Professor Brett's research around GP recruitment and retention strategies is a 'hot topic' in media terms and, following the launch of Snapshot at the annual PHC Research Conference in 2010, Professor Brett was interviewed by the Medical Observer about his research.
Notre Dame Fremantle has received PHCRED funding since 2005, which has enabled Tom's team to target a range of early career researchers - including general practitioners, practice nurses, allied health professionals, medical and nursing students as well as Indigenous researchers on the Notre Dame Broome campus - and have awarded a total of 15 graduate entry medical students with research bursaries or Researcher Development Program fellowships to help develop and support their research.
Tom understands the importance of having his research highlighted in publications such as Snapshot:
Copies of Snapshot 2010 have been placed at strategic locations throughout the campus, especially waiting areas and libraries. It provides a useful source of information across a range of diverse topics and Notre Dame Fremantle is proud to have made its contribution to it.
Gillian Eastgate was also successful in securing a spot in Snapshot 2010, which featured her research; Sexuality, sexual abuse and protection skills in women with intellectual disability. Gillian acknowledges how the opportunities that have arisen from this, along with her attendance at the annual PHC Research Conferences, have helped expose her work to a wider audience:
Since Snapshot 2010 was published, I have secured further funding via the Bond University PHCRED programme for a follow up study: Sexuality and Sexual Abuse Prevention in Adults with Intellectual Disability: a study of family members and support workers.
I have had opportunities to present my work at the 2009 and 2010 PHC Research Conferences, which has enabled me to forge links with three other researchers who are doing qualitative research with people with intellectual disability.
As a researcher addressing issues for a neglected minority group, the exposure I have received from Snapshot and the PHC Research Conferences have been extremely valuable in raising the profile of my research outside the disability-specific field.
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RESEARCH ROUNDup is a PHC RIS resource aimed at keeping readers up-to-date with new Australian primary health care research by providing abbreviated reviews of major citation databases and freely available literature, including recent relevant Australian research where available.
The ROUNDups describe research relevant to key Australian Government health policy directions as defined by the Department of Health and Ageing and are available to download from <www.phcris.org.au/researchroundup>.
 In 2010, PHC RIS produced six issues of RESEARCH ROUNDup:
- Meeting the primary health care needs of refugees and asylum seekers (December 2010)
- Avoiding hospitalisation: effective primary care interventions (October 2010)
- How does teamwork support GPs and Allied Health Professionals to work together? (September 2010)
- Identifying gaps in primary care services: reaching the 'unreached' (August 2010)
- Avoiding hospitalisation: ambulatory care sensitive conditions (July 2010)
- Continuity and safety in care transitions: communication at the hospital/community care interface (May 2010).
Three RESEARCH ROUNDup titles were picked up by external web sources in 2010:
Public Service News and Australian Policy Online (APO) featured the ROUNDup How does teamwork support GPs and Allied Health Professionals to work together? (September). The APO also picked up Avoiding hospitalisation: effective primary care interventions (October) and Identifying gaps in primary care services: reaching the 'unreached' (August).
The most viewed on-line ROUNDup (from publication in August to December 2010), with 750 hits, was Identifying gaps in primary care services: reaching the 'unreached'. This ROUNDup investigated the concept of equity in health, endeavours to describe those who are most likely to be 'unreached' by primary health care services, and how they may be identified.
The second most viewed RESEARCH ROUNDup in 2010 (from publication in October to December 2010) was Avoiding hospitalisation: effective primary care interventions (with over 600 hits), which investigated the factors that may predict avoidable hospital admissions. It also provides an overview of interventions that may be effective in reducing avoidable hospitalisations, and follows from a previous issue that examined the scope of ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in Australia, and their reliability as a measure of primary health care (PHC) performance.
Rapid Responses
PHC RIS is required to provide three Rapid Responses (detailed briefings) for the Department of Health and Ageing each year. Topics are generated by the Department of Health and Ageing and are stimulated by specific policy related issues. Rapid Responses contain PHC research evidence which is used to inform and help shape policy.
Topics for 2010 were:
- Evidence for primary health care disadvantaged groups: who are they, how are they disadvantaged and what interventions work?
- Local community reporting models for regional PHC organisations
- Initiatives to integrate primary and acute health care, including ambulatory care services.
PHC RIS extrapolates, analyses and synthesises data into information, that is readily accessible and appropriately presented, for exchange between policy makers, researchers and the Divisions of General Practice Network.
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