Rural health research capacity building: an anchored solution

Abstract

Rural physicians face many challenges with providing rural health care, which often leads to innovative solutions. Despite their creativity with overcoming barriers, there is a lack of support for rural health research -an area of health care where research makes great impacts on small communities. Rural research capacity building (RRCB) is essential to support rural physicians so that they can conduct relevant research, but RRCB programs are sparse. Thus, our team at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, has created an RRCB ecosystem through the 6for6 and Rural360 programs, which outline a pathway for rural physicians to make meaningful contributions to their communities through research. This article describes the RRCB ecosystem and explains how the 6for6 and Rural360 programs address the need for RRCB. Designed to train six rural physicians over six sessions per year, 6for6 fosters learning of research practices through a conceptual framework that envelops complexity science, systems thinking, and anchored instruction. The use of this framework allows the learning to be grounded in issues that are locally relevant for each participant and follows guiding principles that enable many types of learning. Rural360 continues the pathway by providing an inhouse funding opportunity with an iterative review process that allows participants to continue developing their research skills and, ultimately, secure funding for their project. This anchored delivery model of RRCB programming is made possible through many support systems including staff, librarians, instructors, the university, and other stakeholders. It has successfully helped form communities of practice, promotes collaboration both between learners and with third parties, encourages self-organization with flexibility for learners outside of the in-house sessions, and ultimately drives social accountability in addressing local healthcare issues.

Feasibility of Intradialytic Cycling Program in a Remote Community Hemodialysis Unit: Mixed-Methods Analysis of Implementation

“…Thus, we used this scale not only simply in an exploratory manner but also to informally evaluate patient participation in filling out simple forms. Rural clinical health research is still in its infancy in Canada [42][43][44] and very rarely experienced in our CDU patient population. The fact that both the prestudy and poststudy EQ-5D-5L forms were completed by the vast majority of our active participants was further confirmation of the participatory culture within our CDU environment.…”

Virtual Healthcare in Rural and Remote Settings: A Qualitative Study of Canadian Rural Family Physicians’ Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…For the purpose of this study, virtual care is defined as any available mode of communication between physicians and patients, including video calls, phone calls, and chatting services. Invitations were primally shared through email with the RFPs who attended the Research Capacity Building Programs (RCBP) at Memorial University [ 16 ] and then through the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada’s RuralMed listserv [ 17 ] to RFPs in Canada. The recruitment procedure continued until no further information was obtained and saturation was reached (after nine interviews).…”

Living and working in rural healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study of rural family physicians' lived experiences

“…Recruitment for participants occurred via email. The invitation was sent through the Research Capacity Building Programs (RCBP) at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada's RuralMed listserv to RFPs in Canada [ 17 , 18 ]. The advisory team was actively involved in a recruitment procedure by suggesting different recruitment strategies and sharing the recruitment letter among colleagues who meet the required criteria for this study.…”