Division of Mental Health, North West Area Mental Health, Northern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Psychosocial Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. VIC, Australia.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2024 Aug 5;22(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s12961-024-01195-7.
Previous studies have explored facilitators and barriers to research conducted by allied health professionals in general medical settings. Since the mental health system is acknowledged to be significantly under-funded and more poorly functioning than general medical services, it is unclear whether the published facilitators and barriers also apply to mental health settings. This study sought to explore the research-related knowledge, understanding and practices of allied mental health clinicians based in a large public mental health service.
A mixed methods study recruited 59 occupational therapists and social workers working in a dedicated metropolitan public mental health service in Melbourne, Australia. Quantitative survey results are reported elsewhere. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 survey responder volunteers. Thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative survey and interview data.
Four main themes were identified: research must connect with clinical practice; fragments of knowledge; research in practice; and research is not part of my professional identity. The third theme, research in practice, comprised four subthemes: no time for research in clinical roles, missing communication, lack of ownership, and what I need to do research.
This study found that research and research-related activities were not considered part of the mental health social workers and occupational therapists' professional identities. Dealing with this issue may be instrumental to the realization of these clinicians' professional peak-body associations' code of practice and to government mandated practice standards. We provided several strategies to encourage both clinicians and services to view research-related activities as an everyday part of clinical roles. This is especially important if we think of allied health evidence-based practice requiring a reasonable level of research-related skills and/or competencies to appraise, practice, evaluate and adapt their evidence-based practice.
先前的研究探讨了一般医疗环境中从事医学研究的辅助医务人员的促进因素和障碍因素。由于精神卫生系统被认为是严重资金不足且运作不如一般医疗服务的系统，因此尚不清楚已公布的促进因素和障碍因素是否也适用于精神卫生环境。本研究旨在探索基于大型公共精神卫生服务的精神卫生辅助临床医生的相关研究知识、理解和实践。
这项混合方法研究招募了 59 名在澳大利亚墨尔本的一个专门的大都市公共精神卫生服务机构工作的职业治疗师和社会工作者。定量调查结果在其他地方报告。对 16 名调查回应志愿者进行了半结构化访谈。对定性调查和访谈数据进行了主题分析。
确定了四个主要主题：研究必须与临床实践相关联；知识片段；实践中的研究；研究不是我专业身份的一部分。第三个主题，实践中的研究，包含四个子主题：临床角色中没有时间进行研究、沟通缺失、缺乏所有权和我进行研究所需的内容。
本研究发现，研究和相关研究活动并未被视为精神卫生社会工作者和职业治疗师专业身份的一部分。解决这个问题可能对实现这些临床医生的专业高峰机构的实践准则以及政府规定的实践标准具有重要意义。我们提供了几种策略，以鼓励临床医生和服务机构将与研究相关的活动视为临床角色的日常一部分。如果我们认为辅助医疗循证实践需要一定水平的与研究相关的技能和/或能力来评估、实践、评估和调整其循证实践，那么这一点尤其重要。
