Getting research closer to practice: Using a research capacity building framework to develop and evaluate a clinician-researcher position in occupational therapy

About the Project

Project aims and objective:

This project aimed to document and publish the process of establishing and evaluating a clinical researcher role with a focus on research capacity building. The benefit was anticipated to be a resource that would help plan and support other clinician researcher roles to more effectively achieve research capacity building across the Hopkins Centre, potentially increasing the research engagement and output of clinicians across the Division of Rehabilitation.

Project significance:

This project is important because it helps to address the lack of research skills and confidence of allied health clinicians in rehabilitation, which subsequently impacts the body of evidence on which patient therapy can be based. Typically research evidence is driven by the academic community rather than the clinical community, which may impact the usability of the research to address the issues that clinicians encounter in clinical practice. This in turn can impact patient outcomes.

Expected outcome:

Over time, our hope is that a research capacity building approach will become more prevalent in clinical research. One key tenant of RCB is consumer engagement in order to keep research 'close to practice'. This approach could help ensure that people with TBI contribute to the planning and implementation of research, and that the evidence which results is more immediately translated into meaningful changes to clinical services. Ideally this would mean more cost-effective therapy services that are more responsive to patient needs.

Project Status:

The project commenced in 2019 and is currently focused on research publications and translation presentations.

Project Funding:

This project is funded by a Hopkins Centre Seed Grant and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC).

The project is proudly supported by Griffith University and the Division of Rehabilitation at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Hospital and Health Service.

Research Team: 

Kylie Bower, Division of Rehabilitation, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Hospital and Health Service 

Rebecca Seeney, Division of Rehabilitation, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Hospital and Health Service 

Janelle Griffin, Division of Rehabilitation, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Hospital and Health Service