Research capacity and culture of the Victorian public health allied health workforce is influenced by key research support staff and location.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify and understand the self-rated research capacity and culture of the allied health workforce. METHODS. The present study was a cross-sectional survey. The Research Capacity and Culture tool was disseminated to all Victorian public health allied health departments. General demographic data were also collected, including the presence of an organisational allied health research lead. Five hundred and twenty fully completed surveys were returned by participants; all allied health disciplines and all grades were represented. One hundred and eighty-six participants had an organisational allied health research lead and 432 were located in a metropolitan-based health service. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) within all organisational and team research skills between those with and without a research lead, together with those in different service locations (metropolitan vs non-metropolitan). Higher self-ratings in individual research skills (P < 0.05) were primarily associated with more senior and metropolitan-located clinicians. The allied health workforce identifies as a group that is ready to build the evidence to support clinical practice yet requires a whole-systems approach to do so. The results of the present study suggest that the development of key people to build capacity at a higher organisational level has a flow-down effect on research capacity and culture.