Research interests identified at the coal‐face: initial Delphi analysis of Australian radiation therapists' perspectives

Abstract

Radiation therapists (RTs) need to engage more in research for the benefit of their patients and their own professional development. However, radiation therapy in Australia is new to research with an undeveloped research culture, so RTs need direction when wishing to embark upon research projects. This manuscript provides the results of the first stage of a Delphi process aimed at defining RTs' areas of research interest. Questionnaires were sent to all Australian departments of radiation oncology (n = 41) asking for a group in each department to identify what problems they experienced while treating patients or working with colleagues, and what areas of radiation therapy they felt required further research by radiation therapists. The response rate was 70.7%. Of the designated RTs who collected the data, 82.8% had greater than 10 years experience and 48.1% had postgraduate qualifications. Two of the researchers categorised the responses and derived a list of themes to describe the identified questions. Of 410 research questions, 374 could be coded (91.2%). The categories defined were “Staff issues” (58.3%), “Technical issues” (28.9%) and “Patient related issues” (12.9%). The RTs were interested in many research areas, but it is of concern that the largest theme identified was “Staff issues”, which could indicate some dissatisfaction in the workplace. However, it was clear that RTs are thinking about their practice and identifying gaps in knowledge in the technical and patient related areas. The second stage of this project was to create research areas that represented the themes identified in this first stage and send them back to the radiation oncology departments for prioritising; these data are currently being analysed.

Radiation therapists' perspectives on participating in research

“…This finding extends previous research. [7][8][9][10] Forty percent of RTs with no research experience were interested in research. A desire to be involved in research was associated with working for less than 10 years and no intention to change roles.…”

“…In the late 2000s, a Delphi study was conducted to determine research priorities of Australian RTs demonstrating that a wide range of research is required in radiation therapy in the areas of technology, patient care and focusing on the workforce. [7][8][9] Similar research priorities for RTs were also identified using a Delphi study in Norway. 10 As the importance of RTs being involved in research is now established as part of the profession, it is important that we determine how actively RTs are involved in research and explore current barriers and benefits of research participation.…”

Establishing research priorities for Australian radiation therapists: what patient care priorities need to be addressed?

“…Participants in the first round of this Delphi‐like (Cox et al . 2009) study in early 2008 produced 374 unranked research issues of interest to the profession.…”

“…Initial data analysis for the first round of the study occurred in early 2008, with analysis for this second study occurring in mid 2008. This initial analysis is presented in our two previous articles (Cox et al . 2009, 2010).…”

“…Patients are likely to benefit from further research on their care needs and the role that radiation therapists can play. We conducted this research to explore in detail what research priorities there are for radiation therapists in the area of patient care, given that our earlier work using the Delphi process (Cox et al . 2009) suggested that radiation therapists were somewhat concerned about patient education and reducing treatment side effects (Table 1).…”