What research impacts do Australian primary health care researchers expect and achieve?

Background: Funding for research is under pressure to be accountable in terms of benefits and translation of research findings into practice and policy. Primary health care research has considerable potential to improve health care in a wide range of settings, but little is known about the extent to which these impacts actually occur. This study examines the impact of individual primary health care research projects on policy and practice from the perspective of Chief Investigators (CIs).

South Australian Divisions of General Practice supporting diabetes care: insights from reporting data.

The study used public reporting data supplied by the South Australian Divisions of General Practice to examine their role and significance in supporting diabetes care in general practice. Data sources included the Annual Survey of Divisions 2002-07, and Divisions 12-month reports against National Performance Indicators for 2006-07. Results showed that Divisions combine collaboration, practice support and GP education approaches to support optimal diabetes care within general practice.

The relationship between self-reported health status and the increasing likelihood of South Australians seeking Internet health information.

Objective: To determine the proportion of South Australians seeking health information on the Internet and the relationship between searches for health information and self-reported health status.

Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 3,034 South Australians in 2008 using a clustered, multi-stage, self-weighting area sample.

Results: Compared to 2001, rates of Internet usage were 48% higher and Internet health seeking increased by 57%.

Health reform and the Medical Journal of Australia.

In 2008, the Australian Government established three major health reform initiatives - the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, the first National Primary Health Care Strategy working group, and the Preventative Health Taskforce. We examined which journals were most frequently cited in the publicly available discussion papers, commissioned papers, submissions and final reports of these initiatives. Journal articles were cited most in discussion papers, commissioned papers and submissions, followed by reports and other publications from Australian organisations and governments.

The feasibility of determining the impact of primary health care research projects using the Payback Framework.

Background: Primary health care research is under pressure to be accountable to funders in terms of benefits for practice and policy. However, methods to assess the impact of primary health care research must be appropriate to use with the diverse topics, settings and approaches of this sector. This project explored the feasibility of using the Buxton and Hanney Payback Framework to determine the impact of a stratified random sample (n = 4) of competitively funded, primary health care research projects.

Going online: experiences with a web survey.

This case study details the process and lessons learnt from converting a compulsory comprehensive organisational survey from email to online format. The conversion was undertaken to improve data quality and reduce respondent burden. Key considerations in developing the online survey were ease of use, security and access.

SA HealthPlus: a controlled trial of a statewide application of a generic model of chronic illness care.

SA HealthPlus, one of nine national Australian coordinated care trials, addressed chronic illness care by testing whether coordinated care would improve health outcomes at the cost of usual care. SA HealthPlus compared a generic model of coordinated care for 3,115 intervention patients with the usual care for 1,488 controls. Service coordinators and the behavioral and care-planning approach were new.

What supports effective research links between Divisions of General Practice and universities?

Objective: To find out what supports effective links between Divisions of General Practice and universities.

Design: Qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews during October 2004, from which a framework for effective linking was constructed and its validity assessed by discussion with researchers and Division staff and members at four interactive workshops held between 9 November 2004 and 5 November 2005 .

Participants: 21 participants from Divisions of General Practice and universities in Australia.

Expressions of interest - writing for success.

Primary health care research is a growing discipline and as such needs more funds to support the increase in this research. With the competition for research funds increasing, primary health care researchers need to be astute in how they apply for funds. This article provides key points to keep in mind when writing an expression of interest to increase your chance of success.