What Can Health Services Researchers Offer Health Systems? Developing Meaningful Partnerships Between Academics and Health System Workers; Comment on “Experience of Health Leadership in Partnering with University-Based Researchers in Canada - A Call to ‘Re-imagine’ Research”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors

Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Abstract

As healthcare researchers, we know very well our own experiences on the challenges of partnering with those in the health system to do collaborative, internationally-regarded studies aiming for impact. Bowen and colleagues’ study in Canada empirically examines these issues from the other side, interviewing health system leaders about their perspectives of us researchers, research collaborations and the challenges and opportunities these pose. Based on their findings, they propose a need to re-imagine the contours of research. Inspired by that, in this commentary we examine the context for research partnerships and consider some of the emerging models for fostering more meaningful collaborations between researchers and those working in healthcare systems and organisations. Based on principles of embedded research and researchers, these models—including translational research networks (TRNs) and researcher-in-residence models—rely on a complex interplay of personal and interpersonal factors to be successful.

Keywords


  1. Bowen S, Botting I, Graham I, et al. Experience of health leadership in partnering with university-based researchers in Canada–a call to “re-imagine” research. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(12):684–699. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.66
  2. Braithwaite J, Churruca K, Long JC, Ellis LA, Herkes J. When complexity science meets implementation science: a theoretical and empirical analysis of systems change. BMC Med. 2018;16(1):63. doi:10.1186/s12916-018-1057-z
  3. Green LW. Making research relevant: if it is an evidence-based practice, where's the practice-based evidence? Fam Pract. 2008;25(suppl 1):i20-i24. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmn055
  4. Clay-Williams R, Taylor N, Braithwaite J. Potential solutions to improve the governance of multicentre health services research. MJA. 2018;208(4):152-154.
  5. Churruca K, Ludlow K, Taylor N, Long JC, Best S, Braithwaite J. The time has come: Embedded implementation research for health care improvement. J Eval Clin Pract. 2019;25(3):373-380. doi:10.1111/jep.13100
  6. Long JC, Hibbert P, Braithwaite J. Structuring successful collaboration: a longitudinal social network analysis of a translational research network. Implement Sci. 2016;11:19. doi:10.1186/s13012-016-0381-y
  7. Marshall M, Pagel C, French C, et al. Moving improvement research closer to practice: the Researcher-in-Residence model. BMJ Qual Saf. 2014;23(10):801-805. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002779
  8. Dauphinée D, Martin JB. Breaking Down the Walls: Thoughts on the Scholarship of Integration. Acad Med. 2000;75(9):881-886.
  9. Coates D, Mickan S. The embedded researcher model in Australian healthcare settings: Comparison by degree of ‘embeddedness.’ Transl Res. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.trsl.2019.10.005
  10. Marshall M, Eyre L, Lalani M, et al. Increasing the impact of health services research on service improvement: the researcher-in-residence model. J Royal Soc Med. 2016;109(6):220-225. doi:10.1177/0141076816634318
  11. Long JC, Cunningham FC, Carswell P, Braithwaite J. Who are the key players in a new translational research network? BMC Health Serv Res. 2013;13:338. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-13-338
  12. Gawande A. Personal Best: Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you? The New Yorker. 2011. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best.
Volume 10, Issue 2
February 2021
Pages 90-92
  • Receive Date: 14 November 2019
  • Revise Date: 12 January 2020
  • Accept Date: 15 January 2020
  • First Publish Date: 01 February 2021