A retrospective descriptive review of community-engaged research projects addressing rural health priorities.
Community engagement
Medical education
Rural health
Rural medicine
Journal
BMC medical education
ISSN: 1472-6920
Titre abrégé: BMC Med Educ
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101088679
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
29 Jul 2024
29 Jul 2024
Historique:
received:
04
09
2023
accepted:
16
07
2024
medline:
30
7
2024
pubmed:
30
7
2024
entrez:
29
7
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Most rural populations experience significant health disadvantage. Community-engaged research can facilitate research activities towards addressing health issues of priority to local communities. Connecting scholars with community based frontline practices that are addressing local health and medical needs helps establish a robust pipeline for research that can inform gaps in health provision. Rural Health Projects (RHPs) are conducted as part of the Doctor of Medicine program at the University of Queensland. This study aims to describe the geographic coverage of RHPs, the health topic areas covered and the different types of RHP research activities conducted. It also provides meaningful insight of the health priorities for local rural communities in Queensland, Australia. This study conducted a retrospective review of RHPs conducted between 2011 and 2021 in rural and remote Australian communities. Descriptive analyses were used to describe RHP locations by their geographical classification and disease/research categorisation using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems - 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes and the Human Research Classification System (HRCS) categories. There were a total of 2806 eligible RHPs conducted between 2011 and 2021, predominantly in Queensland (n = 2728, 97·2%). These were mostly conducted in small rural towns (under 5,000 population, n = 1044, 37·2%) or other rural towns up to 15,000 population (n = 842, 30·0%). Projects mostly addressed individual care needs (n = 1233, 43·9%) according to HRCS categories, or were related to factors influencing health status and contact with health services (n = 1012, 36·1%) according to ICD-10 classification. Conducting community focused RHPs demonstrates a valuable method to address community-specific rural health priorities by engaging medical students in research projects while simultaneously enhancing their research skills.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Most rural populations experience significant health disadvantage. Community-engaged research can facilitate research activities towards addressing health issues of priority to local communities. Connecting scholars with community based frontline practices that are addressing local health and medical needs helps establish a robust pipeline for research that can inform gaps in health provision. Rural Health Projects (RHPs) are conducted as part of the Doctor of Medicine program at the University of Queensland. This study aims to describe the geographic coverage of RHPs, the health topic areas covered and the different types of RHP research activities conducted. It also provides meaningful insight of the health priorities for local rural communities in Queensland, Australia.
METHODS
METHODS
This study conducted a retrospective review of RHPs conducted between 2011 and 2021 in rural and remote Australian communities. Descriptive analyses were used to describe RHP locations by their geographical classification and disease/research categorisation using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems - 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes and the Human Research Classification System (HRCS) categories.
RESULTS
RESULTS
There were a total of 2806 eligible RHPs conducted between 2011 and 2021, predominantly in Queensland (n = 2728, 97·2%). These were mostly conducted in small rural towns (under 5,000 population, n = 1044, 37·2%) or other rural towns up to 15,000 population (n = 842, 30·0%). Projects mostly addressed individual care needs (n = 1233, 43·9%) according to HRCS categories, or were related to factors influencing health status and contact with health services (n = 1012, 36·1%) according to ICD-10 classification.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Conducting community focused RHPs demonstrates a valuable method to address community-specific rural health priorities by engaging medical students in research projects while simultaneously enhancing their research skills.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39075475
doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05791-7
pii: 10.1186/s12909-024-05791-7
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
805Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
Références
Richman L, Pearson J, Beasley C et al. Addressing health inequalities in diverse, rural communities: an unmet need. SSM Popul Health 2019.
Mainous AGKF. A comparison of health status between rural and urban adults. J Community Health. 1995;20:423–31.
doi: 10.1007/BF02260438
Rural Health Standing Committee. National Strategic Framework for Rural and Remote Health. Department of Health; 2020.
Roberts R. Building rural health research and scholarship - NHMRC Open access revisions and impact on rural health outcomes. Aust J Rural Health. 2021;29:316–8. 2021/07/05.
doi: 10.1111/ajr.12769
O’Sullivan BG, Cairns A, Gurney TM. Understanding the field of rural health academic research: a national qualitative, interview-based study. Rural Remote Health. 2020;20:6116. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH6116 . 2020/09/04.
doi: 10.22605/RRH6116
Kelly WB, MacDermott S, Spelten E. A seat at the table: Regional, rural and remote health research and impact. Aust J Rural Health. 2021;29:1002–7. 2021/10/19.
doi: 10.1111/ajr.12802
Lyle D, Greenhill J. Two decades of building capacity in rural health education, training and research in Australia: University Departments of Rural Health and Rural Clinical Schools. Aust J Rural Health. 2018;26:314–22. 2018/10/12.
doi: 10.1111/ajr.12470
Aslam F, Shakir M, Qayyum MA. Why medical students are crucial to the future of research in South Asia. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e322. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020322 . 2005/11/18.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020322
Mills JMZ, Januszewski AS, Robinson BG, et al. Attractions and barriers to Australian physician-researcher careers. Intern Med J. 2019;49:171–81. 2018/08/29.
doi: 10.1111/imj.14086
Eley DS, Hu W, Talley NJ. Educating future clinician academics: the role of medical schools. Med J Aust. 2022;217:16–9. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51596 . 2022/06/03.
doi: 10.5694/mja2.51596
Muhandiramge J, Vu T, Wallace MJ, et al. The experiences, attitudes and understanding of research amongst medical students at an Australian medical school. BMC Med Educ. 2021;21:267. 2021/05/12.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02713-9
Jaderholm C, Currier J, Brown K et al. The Community Research Liaison Model: Facilitating community-engaged research. J Clin Transl Sci 2023; 7: e78. 2023/05/01. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.31 .
Bleakley A. Broadening conceptions of learning in medical education: the message from teamworking. Med Educ. 2006;40:150–7. 2006/02/03.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02371.x
Badyal D, Singh T. Learning theories: the basics to learn in Medical Education. Int J App Basic Med Res 2017; 7.
Ford T, Joneja M, Bona A. Sociocultural Theory. Education Theory Made Practical.
Department of Health. Modified Monash Model, https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/rural-health-workforce/classifications/mmm (2021).
Uebel J, Iqbal M, Hall J. A retrospective review of primary care research projects completed by medical students at University of New South Wales Medicine. Aust J Gen Pract 2020; 49.
UK Clinical Research Collaboration. Health Research classification system. UK: Medical Research Council; 2018.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Rural & remote health. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2019.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Primary health care. Canberra: Austrailan Institute of Health and Welfare; 2020.
Britt H, Miller GC, Henderson J, et al. General practice activity in Australia 2015–16. Sydney: Sydney University; 2015.
Kharraz R, Hamadah R, AlFawaz D, et al. Perceived barriers towards participation in undergraduate research activities among medical students at Alfaisal University-College of Medicine: a Saudi Arabian perspective. Med Teach. 2016;38(Suppl 1):S12–18. 2016/03/18.
doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2016.1142507
Hart J, Hakim J, Kaur R, et al. Research supervisors’ views of barriers and enablers for research projects undertaken by medical students; a mixed methods evaluation of a post-graduate medical degree research project program. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22:370. 2022/05/14.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03429-0