Ellen McIntyre, PHC RIS
The latest RESEARCH ROUNDup focuses on the primary health care research workforce in Australia in the context of a significant health reform. While much is yet to be decided, two clear themes can be identified from the reform reports. The first is the importance of multidisciplinary team work in the primary health care (PHC) setting. The second is the importance of further developing and strengthening Australia’s PHC research sector which is critical to inform its health policy and practice.
These themes of a stronger multidisciplinary focus and a stronger PHC research sector reinforce each other, as clinical, health system and health services research increasingly needs to be undertaken by researchers from multiple disciplines and backgrounds.
The Australian government has recognised the importance of strengthening PHC research by establishing the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) Strategy which seeks to improve Australia’s ability to produce high quality primary health care research. The strategy, which has been funded since 2000, has increased participation in this field of research by building and supporting researchers in the field and closing the gap between research and policy.
By analysing data from two current sources of information about the PHC research workforce (the 2009 GP & PHC Research Conference presenters and data from the PHCRED Researcher Development Program national survey), we found that PHC researchers come from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Medical, nursing or allied health backgrounds are balanced by other research disciplines and skills. This diverse research workforce is in a sound position to continue generating research evidence relevant to multidisciplinary primary health care, to inform policy and practice.
This issue of RESEARCH ROUNDup can be viewed on-line at <www.phcris.org.au/researchroundup>
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