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BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

Scanning the environment

As a service to our users we thoroughly scan the environment and compile the results in a weekly email for subscribers, the PHC RIS eBulletin. This email contains links to articles of interest, new resources, events, websites, grants, tenders, vacancies, fellowship, scholarships and press releases. The PHC RIS eBulletin delivers the week's top primary health care information straight to subscribers' inboxes. In 2007 the PHC RIS eBulletin continued to grow in popularity, scope and utility. By the end of 2008 our list of subscribers totalled 1397, an increase of 41% from the previous year. On average 35% of subscribers follow at least one link for further information.

I pass it on and use it as a source of professional development. It does the looking for things we don't have the time to do and keeps me up to date with what is happening out there, i.e. there was a great thing in there on monitoring and evaluation which we actually used and discussed at our executive meeting.
- Policy Advisor

Analyse, interpret and synthesise information about the Divisions Network

PHC RIS generated timely accurate information about the Divisions of General Practice Network by publishing Making a difference. Report of the 2005-2006 Annual Survey of Divisions on-line in July and distributing 950 printed copies of the report. There have been more than 1700 web downloads of the report and its chapters, which provide the most independent and comprehensive information about primary health care activities (i.e. immunisation, quality support and prevention and early intervention activities) associated with the Divisions of General Practice Network. It is the only national primary health care data which are consistent across states and territories.

Measuring the impact of research

PHC RIS completed and disseminated Stage 1 of the applied research project Research Impact Project which commenced in 2006. This study tested methodology for assessing impact and identified some pathways to impact. Stage 1 showed that the methodology we tested was appropriate to describe the varying impact of the four primary health care research projects we studied. We identified some of the pathways by which this impact occurs. The strongest pathways to impact were formed by strong collaborative links, personal relationships and the involvement of practitioners, health care managers and policy makers in defining the research question and in the research processes. Good dissemination was important and all researchers presented their work many times to different audiences. Also important was the involvement of respected and credible champions, with strong links to decision making processes, and the alignment of the research findings with Government priorities and dominant ideas. Building on this, we completed the on-line data collection for Stage 2 which aims to find out what difference primary health care research makes to policy and practice, and explore the pathways by which research projects have impacted on their environment. The Stage 2 report will be available in 2008.

Generate targeted information for stakeholders

For its readers, the bi-monthly newsletter PHC RIS infonet is not just a news source, but a social networking tool. In February 2007, a survey showed that PHC RIS infonet was highly valued by its readership and that reading this newsletter was an important part of 'catching up' and 'keeping up to date' with primary health care research, policy and practice news and events. PHC RIS infonet has pages dedicated to PHCRED strategy activities and outcomes, Divisions of General Practice activities and policy news. PHC RIS readers have commented not only on their satisfaction with being able to see what was happening in their stakeholder group but across the whole spectrum of primary health care.

In terms of a newsletter it is probably as good as one can get.
- Researcher

PHC RIS fact sheets and infoBytes meet users' needs for brief concise information on relevant topics. To support PHC RIS users in accessing information PHC RIS has developed resources on topics such as applying for research funding, introduction to research methods, getting started in evaluation, writing expressions of interest, and getting published in peer review journals. Our fact sheets topics are well researched and targeted to meet the needs of our stakeholders. In accordance with feedback they have been designed to provide 'how to' tips on giving an oral presentation, getting the most out of conferences, finding research partners, getting published in peer review publications, and disseminating research results.