An investigation of research capacity, research support needs and research priorities amongst staff in Community Healthcare Organisation 9

Background: The REACH Collaboratory (Research and Engagement Across Community Health) was established in January 2022 as a collaboration between the Health Service Executive Community Healthcare Organisation 9 (CHO 9) and Dublin City University. The mission of the Collaboratory is to improve the health and wellbeing of the community by generating evidence to inform effective decision-making and policy, in partnership with local communities, and in relation to community health services and system development. Objective: To develop a survey to explore research capacity and research support needs amongst staff in CHO 9 and to begin the process of identifying research priorities in relation to the establishment of community health networks and planning and providing care for those living within the catchment area. Methods: A survey was developed by the research team using existing questionnaires exploring research interest and activity amongst clinical staff working in primary care settings. The survey was tested for face and content validity and cognitive interviewing was used to test respondents’ interpretation of questions and to identify any potential problems that respondents may experience when using the questionnaire. The survey was built and administered via Zoho survey and invitations disseminated through the HSE broadcast email system. The survey consists of 35 questions covering topics such as profession, research training and expertise, research interest, priority topics for research and ways in which REACH could support staff to undertake research and build research skills. Results: A total of 178 responses were recorded from staff in management and administration (32%, n=45), nursing (19%, n=27), health promotion and improvement (12%, n=17) and social inclusion (9%, n=13) roles. Nearly a quarter of respondents (24%, n=21) reported that they were currently involved in research whereas 46% (n=41) of respondents reported to be involved in health service improvement projects. Improving patient outcomes (76%, n=69), service improvement (77%, n=70) and professional development (56%, n=51) were reported as the biggest motivating factors for involvement in research and service improvement projects. A lack of time due to existing workload (71%, n=65) was reported as the single biggest factor preventing greater involvement in research and service improvement projects. There were 349 free text research suggestions for research priorities which were categorised under 3 broad themes (socioeconomic disadvantage or social inclusion, health systems and services and other priorities) and 42 subthemes. The five subthemes mentioned most were: equality, diversity and inclusion in services, healthy lifestyle behaviour and health promotion, access to health services, mental health supports, and addiction supports. The areas where most respondents wanted support were preparing applications for grants/financing, building research networks, and analysing and interpreting qualitative data. Conclusion: The findings of this survey will be used to guide the development of REACH activities to build research capacity and to support research activity within CHO9. The research priorities identified will be developed further with key stakeholders, as research questions and proposals for research projects and grant submissions.