General practice research priority setting in Australia: Informing a research agenda to deliver best patient care

Abstract

Background General practice research is the subsection of primary care research that addresses gaps in evidence about care delivered in general practice. Despite delivering care to 85% of the Australian population annually, general practice receives a paucity of government health research funding when compared with tertiary healthcare settings. However, general practitioners (GPs) require evidence-based tools and guidelines applicable to their patients. Objective The aim of this study was to establish a set of general practice research priorities to guide resource allocation, and to inform a research agenda that optimises the delivery of the best patient care. Method A comprehensive literature review was conducted, followed by a modified two-round Delphi survey of general practice stakeholders. Results Sixty-seven general practice research priorities were identified. Priorities included quality care and evidencebased practice. Discussion The results provide a contemporary reference point for an Australian general practice research agenda that helps prioritise and advocate for funding, and enables delivery of evidence-based patient care.

A retrospective review of primary care research projects completed by medical students at University of New South Wales Medicine

“…16 The four most common themes identified were also high on the lists of research priorities in primary care identified by GP researchers in a recent Australian survey. 3 The data available for this study did not allow us to identify whether individual supervisors were primary care academics. However, what is of concern in the findings is the relatively low number of primary care research projects that are being supervised by departments known to have substantial numbers of primary care academics.…”

“…1 The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) guideline suggests that '… medical students need to be made aware that research is an important part of scholarship and professional practice'. 2 With figures from the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) database for 2015- 16 showing that nearly 87% of Australians visited a general practitioner (GP) at least once in that year, 3 and with primary care being the gateway to medical services, exposure to research on primary care topics should be a high priority for students at Australian medical schools.…”

Improving primary prevention of acute rheumatic fever in Australia: consensus primary care priorities identified through an eDelphi process

“…The overall number of study participants was modest, though a 43% response rate higher than some comparable eDelphi projects involving primary healthcare in Australia. 39 Further, participants were drawn from all five jurisdictions in Australia with ARF/RHD registers and the number of participants is comparable with other eDelphi studies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. 20 Only two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participated in this study; consequently, results predominantly reflect perspectives of non-Indigenous remote health staff.…”

Survey to identify research priorities for primary care in Scotland during and following the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A number of previously published studies have identified primary care research priorities and the reach of these studies has varied with research priorities variously being developed internationally,16 in low and middle-income countries,17 in the European Union18 or in single countries 19. An argument for setting research priorities in one country, or a cluster of similar countries is because the challenges faced by primary care in different countries vary due to factors such as population characteristics (eg, an ageing population), diverse social cultures and norms and different healthcare systems (eg, public and private healthcare systems) 18.…”

“…An argument for setting research priorities in one country, or a cluster of similar countries is because the challenges faced by primary care in different countries vary due to factors such as population characteristics (eg, an ageing population), diverse social cultures and norms and different healthcare systems (eg, public and private healthcare systems) 18. Research priorities identified in several previous research prioritisation exercises include how primary care should be financed, organised and staffed,16–20 the importance of implementation and translation of knowledge and evidence into primary care,16 19 addressing multimorbidity,16 19 20 promoting health equity,16 19 promoting healthy behaviours in the population,16 19 universal health coverage and health access,16 17 digital delivery of primary care16 19 and the involvement of patients in the design and delivery of primary care 16 19…”