Development of a capability framework for Allied Health research careers in health services

Background:
Engaging health services in research is important for ensuring a strong practice-relevant evidence base. To achieve this, health service staff must be equipped with the necessary research capabilities. Despite growing research engagement by Allied Health (AH) professionals within services, career frameworks that enable staff to map research capabilities are currently lacking. Pre-existing frameworks focus largely on research capabilities within the academic context, and do not adequately capture the specific capabilities required of AH research roles in health services. Equally, existing frameworks assume a career progression that moves from clinical practice, through a PhD and then onto a research academic path, and hence have limited relevance for other types of research roles that exist within health services. Hence, this study aimed to develop a research career capability framework for AH research careers within health services, using the specific setting of Queensland Health, a state-wide Australian public health service.

Methods:
This research involved four sequential phases: 1) A rapid review to identify potential capabilities for inclusion in the framework; 2) Refinement of the rapid review findings into an initial set of capabilities and domains by a Project Reference Group (PRG); 3) An e-Delphi survey with a broad range of stakeholders to gain consensus on included capabilities; and 4) A survey of and consultation with the PRG to refine capabilities and develop final framework elements.

Results:
Twelve articles yielding 2,125 capability statements were identified in the rapid review. These were synthesized into 73 capabilities by the PRG, which went forward to a 2-round e-Delphi with 48 participants. The resulting framework consisted of 61 capabilities under five domains: Research knowledge and skills; Research impact and translation; Clinical and healthcare research context; Research leadership and strategy; and Research capacity building and mentorship.

Conclusions:
Using a multi-phase approach, a research capability framework which represented the diversity of AH research careers within health services was developed. The framework can be used to guide professional development of AH researchers and to support their career development processes. Although developed within a specific health context, the work has application to other locations, as well as professions outside Allied Health.