"We're not providing the best care if we are not on the cutting edge of research": a research impact evaluation at a regional Australian hospital and health service
Brown, Amy, Edelman, Alexandra, Pain, Tilley, Larkins, Sarah, and Harvey, Gillian (2022) "We're not providing the best care if we are not on the cutting edge of research": a research impact evaluation at a regional Australian hospital and health service. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 11 (12). pp. 3000-3011.
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Abstract
Background: Research is central to high functioning health services alongside clinical care and health professional training. The impact of embedded research includes delivery of high-quality care and improved patient outcomes. Evaluations of research impact help health service leadership ensure investments lead to the greatest healthcare benefits for patients. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the impact of research investment from 2008 to 2018 at Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS), a regional Hospital and Health Service in Queensland, Australia. The evaluation also sought to identify contextual conditions that enable or hinder intended impacts.
Methods: A mixed-methods realist-informed evaluation was conducted using documentation, interviews with 15 staff and available databases to identify and measure research investments, impacts and contextual conditions influencing impact outcomes.
Results: Between 2008 and 2018, THHS increased resources for research by funding research projects, employing research personnel, building research-enabling facilities, hosting research events, and providing research education and training. Clinical practice, policy and workforce impacts were successful in isolated pockets, championed by individual researchers and facilitated by their policy and community-of-practice networks. However, there was little organisationallevel support for continuity of research and implementation into practice and policy. Availability of research supports varied geographically across THHS, and across disciplines.
Conclusion: Definitive steps in the development of THHS as a credible and productive research centre and leading hospital research centre in Northern Australia are evident. Continuing investments should address support for the research continuum through to translation and establish ongoing, systematic processes for evaluating research investment and impact.
| Item ID: | 77225 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2322-5939 |
| Copyright Information: | © 2022 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Funders: | Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS) |
| Projects and Grants: | THHS Study Education and Research Trust Account (SERTA) |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Jan 2023 00:13 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420312 Implementation science and evaluation @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420321 Rural and remote health services @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200206 Health system performance (incl. effectiveness of programs) @ 100% |
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