Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Clayton, Australia.
Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Westmead, Australia.
J Med Radiat Sci. 2024 Sep;71(3):330-343. doi: 10.1002/jmrs.723. Epub 2023 Sep 20.
Building research capacity within the radiation therapist workforce/profession is essential to guarantee research is embedded into core practices. Assessment of current capacity levels within organisation, department and individual domains needs to occur to establish a baseline and ensure research capacity building (RCB) strategies will be targeted successfully. This exploratory study aimed to identify the areas within each domain where radiation therapists would benefit from extra research assistance, that being research support and process changes, particularly in relation to the workplace and health sector.
Practising radiation therapists (RTs) within Australia were recruited through professional organisations and invited to complete the online Research Capacity Culture Tool (RCCT). The survey was conducted using Qualtrics with data exported to SPSS.V27 for analysis. Descriptive statistics and the Radiation Therapy Specific Survey Analysis Approach (RTSSAA) for the Research Capacity and Culture Tool were used to analyse and report the results.
Survey participation rate was 121/2640 (4.6%). Within the Organisation and Department domains, the most research assistance was required in infrastructure (n = 92-37) and support (n = 66-45) categories, respectively. Participants from private sector (Organisation: 42.7%, Department: 53.7%) and metropolitan centres (Organisation: 32.6%, Department: 47.5%) required a higher rate of assistance when compared to their counterparts in both categories. The individual domain showed similar levels of assistance required across health sectors and work locations. Workplaces showed similar levels of complexity of research activity; private sector (62.5%) recorded the highest level of no research activity.
This study has provided insight into how the research capacity and culture of organisations and departments in which individuals' work will influence their abilities and opportunities to perform research.
在放射治疗师队伍/专业中建立研究能力对于保证研究嵌入核心实践至关重要。需要对组织、部门和个人领域内的当前能力水平进行评估，以建立基准并确保研究能力建设 (RCB) 战略能够成功实施。这项探索性研究旨在确定每个领域内放射治疗师在哪些方面需要额外的研究协助，即研究支持和流程变更，特别是与工作场所和卫生部门有关的方面。
通过专业组织招募澳大利亚的在职放射治疗师，并邀请他们完成在线研究能力文化工具 (RCCT)。该调查使用 Qualtrics 进行，数据导出到 SPSS.V27 进行分析。使用描述性统计和放射治疗特定调查分析方法 (RTSSAA) 对研究能力和文化工具进行分析和报告结果。
调查参与率为 121/2640（4.6%）。在组织和部门领域，基础设施（n=92-37）和支持（n=66-45）类别最需要研究协助。来自私营部门（组织：42.7%，部门：53.7%）和大都市区（组织：32.6%，部门：47.5%）的参与者比同类机构需要更高的协助率。个人领域在卫生部门和工作地点方面显示出相似水平的研究协助需求。工作场所显示出相似水平的研究活动复杂性；私营部门（62.5%）记录的无研究活动水平最高。
本研究深入了解了个人工作所在的组织和部门的研究能力和文化如何影响他们进行研究的能力和机会。
