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Effective links: exciting times at NWQPHC

Effective links are the result of successful partnerships between Divisions and researchers. As interest in these partnerships grows, we at PHC RIS thought it would be fitting to highlight these partnerships to exemplify the different stages of effective links. This is the third instalment in a series of interviews that aim to capture the real life stories and examples of these collaborative partnerships. In this issue we interviewed Dr Tilley Pain from North and West Queensland Primary Health Care division (NWQPHC), and asked her about the exciting new research developments occurring in her Division.

"I'll just give you an indication of the difference in the attitude towards research in our Division, we've never previously had any staff nominate or apply for PHCRED fellowship funding, this year we are going to have three applicants."

Research and evaluation has always been a part of the culture and history of NWQPHC. Professor Dennis Pashen, who founded the Division, employed an executive officer with a PhD and since then, a further three staff with PhDs have been employed. This year NWQPHC has experienced an explosion of interest in research and evaluation to include exciting new activities such as research workshops and evaluation forums.

Dr Tilley Pain is now the Research Officer for the NWQPHC and her enthusiasm for research and evaluation is catching, even by phone between Townsville and Adelaide. It is easy to see how she has got the Division participating in more research than ever before and applying for PHCRED research grants.

When Tilley completed her post doctoral fellowship in the United States specialising in cardiac physiology she sought to return to Queensland. "I'm a North Queenslander by origin, so I wanted to return to north Queensland ". Tilley said "I knew a couple of people who worked in the Divisions and when I heard what this Division was doing with the Allied health workers, I thought 'hmm they are going to need a researcher one day!'"

About three years after this she began working for the Division. Her role at that time involved setting up the recording and data management systems for a team of outreach service providers.

Since then her responsibilities have expanded. "We have had a lot of discussions about the role of research within the Division with Ross Nable (PhD), the CEO (Kelly McTaggart) and myself. As the allied health outreach services were set up to support GPs deliver primary health care, we consider our core research interest to be the evaluation of those services."

Tilley says there a number of benefits to having Division staff involved in research, one of them being staff retention. "We set up a small research group out in Mt Isa, we call it project Brown after one of our members. We began with six members and that's growing. I know a couple of them have expressed interest in learning more about the project management and research process. Several members have said 'I had no idea research was like this, this is really good'. So I think that will encourage them to stay that little bit longer so that they can use the knowledge that they are gaining."

The Project Brown team receives excellent support from the PHCRED team MICRRH (Mt Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health). "One of the biggest barriers in our Division is geography. The largest group of people with research interests is in Mt Isa, but I live and work in Townsville over 800km away. I go out to Mt Isa once every three weeks to support the Project Brown team and other Divisional staff and we have linked up with MICRRH who also deliver research training. They liaise closely with me to generally provide research support when I'm not there. They have expertise in the areas that I just don't. I'm a quantitative researcher, a bench researcher and a lot of what they need support in is qualitative. The guys out there have more skills in that area than me, and they are actually more appropriate to support the team than I am."

However, Project Brown is just the tip of the ice berg. Tilley is also in the process of completing a diabetes audit, to follow up two previous audits of diabetes care; providing support for a new needs assessment of dementia needs in the community as part of a new HACC program; and working on a project of her own about primary care patients in emergency funded by QHealth.

Tilley commented on some of the most prevalent enablers and barriers to research and effective links. "One barrier is an understanding of what research is. Some people don't understand that research and evaluation are not completely separate, that you use the techniques of one to do the other. As an enabler, I'm getting a lot of support from the executives, and from within the GP practices; I'm finding that most people are very amiable and supportive and willing to help out. I think for many GPs their concern is whether they will hear back from the researchers, and so for the Royal Flying Doctors Service in Mt Isa, we've offered to give them a presentation after we have completed the diabetes study, which they are excited about."

Dr Tilley Pain
Ph: 07 4725 8868
E: tilleyp@nwqphc.com.au