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Research Ready: Improving Clinic-Based Research by Engaging Clinic Support Staff

CP42 - Research Ready: Improving Clinic-Based Research by Engaging Clinic Support Staff

Poster Type: Innovation

Primary Funding Source: Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Category: Workforce

Issue or Challenge: Through our experience implementing research studies in Community Health Centers (CHCs) and other outpatient settings, the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) recognized that the role of clinic support staff is often overlooked. We found that when these staff are not comfortable with research, it hinders the success of studies and leads to poor experiences for patients, staff, and researchers. As more research is being conducted in clinical settings, engaging and training support staff members as champions for research will help equitably engage participants in non-traditional study sites, such as CHCs.

Description of Innovation: The project team designed, implemented, and evaluated Research Ready, a training to improve clinic staff capacity to partner in research. The training was developed to inform clinic staff, such as medical assistants and nurses, about basic research principles and considerations for supporting the implementation of research in a clinical setting. Research Ready is available in three formats: e-learning, facilitated session, and self-guided workbook.Research Ready was informed by interviews conducted with clinic support staff and researchers who had implemented studies in outpatient settings. Clinic staff from a variety of settings were interviewed, including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), private healthcare systems, and academic medical centers. To date the training has been implemented and evaluated at over a dozen sites, including six FQHCs.

Impact or Result: Survey results showed that participants thought the Research Ready training was easy to understand and increased their knowledge about research. Results also showed that participants felt the information from the training was applicable to their jobs and helped them feel more comfortable talking with their patients about research.

Replicating this Innovation: Research Ready materials are available for free on LPHI’s website. Any organization who is interested can access and use the resources to implement the training. The e-learning module is a self-study option that can be integrated into an organization’s learning management system.

Author(s):

Daniele Farrisi, Senior Program Manager, Louisiana Pubic Health Institute

Margaret Sanders, Clinic Engagement Manager, Louisiana Public Health Institute