Developing research priorities in Australian primary health care: a focus on nutrition and physical activity

Abstract

Research priority setting is an important component of research planning, particularly when research options exceed available resources. This study identified the research priorities for supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours in the Australian primary healthcare setting. A five-step stakeholder engagement process was undertaken. Ten stakeholder organisations participated in the process, including patient representatives, health professional associations, health educators, researchers, government advisors and policymakers. Each organisation was asked to provide up to three research questions deemed as a priority. Research questions were critically appraised by the project team for answerability, sustainability, effectiveness, potential for translation and potential to affect disease burden. A blinded scoring system was used to rank the appraised questions, with higher scores indicating higher priority (range of scores possible 87-156). Thirteen unique research questions were submitted by stakeholders and achieved a range of scores from 87 to 139 points. The highest scoring research questions focused on: (i) the effectiveness of different health professionals at facilitating healthy lifestyle behaviours; (ii) the effect of health literacy on behaviour change; and (iii) cost-benefit analysis of healthy lifestyle promotion in primary health care. These priorities can be used to ensure future research projects directly align with the needs and preferences of research end-users.

What matters most to patients about primary healthcare: mixed-methods patient priority setting exercises within the PREFeR (PRioritiEs For Research) project

“…While there have been exercises to identify primary care research priorities at clinical and academic conferences,8 these did not include patients. We have only identified a few recent publications that examined primary care priorities more generally—that is, in which the overall focus was not specific to a particular health condition—and that involved patients as one of the multistakeholder groups 9–12. Even so, these studies actually targeted more specific topics—how to promote healthy behaviours through primary care, ensuring care is guided by patient goals and preferences, and patient safety concerns—rather than allowing any topics relating to primary care experiences to emerge as priorities.…”

Reconceptualising community participation in primary health

“…Spurling et al (2017) reinforces how investigator driven research may represent 'an extension of colonial control' and that much can be learned by asking people about their priorities. The theme of participation and research priority setting is picked up by Ball et al (2017). Hesson et al (2017) argue that parents are rarely involved in the development of child and family services and stresses the importance of timely, integrated, continuous participatory mechanisms driven by consumers.…”