PHCRED

Program aims

The Researcher Development Program (RDP) and Research Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI) are components of the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) strategy funded for the period 2006-2009 by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The PHCRED goals are:

• An expanded pool of primary health care researchers
• More research relevant to practice and policy
• In collaboration with other relevant organisations, well informed primary health care practice and policy

The Research Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI) objective is to increase the pool of primary health care researchers by up-skilling early-mid career researchers. The Researcher Development Program (RDP) is a sub component of the RCBI that aims to enhance research capacity amongst primary health care workers, graduates of other disciplines working in primary health care, and consumers, by providing financial support to undertake primary health care research and access to existing infrastructure.

UDRH RDP program

The RDP appoints rural primary health care practitioners as RDP Beginner Research Fellows for 12 months. Recipients represent a diverse range of primary health care disciplines including Allied Health, Nursing, General Practice and Aboriginal Health. Mentoring support is provided to current RDP fellows, previous RDP fellows and RHD students by the PHCRED team and other academic staff in the Department.

Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development - Research Capacity Building Initiative (PHCRED RCBI)

To support research capacity building activities the University Department of Rural Health, Northern NSW receives funding under the Research Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI) of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing's 2006-2009 Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) strategy.

The key objectives of this initiative are:

• To increase the pool of primary health care researchers by up-skilling early to mid career researchers, and supporting the sustainable advancement of research careers in primary health care
• To support early to mid career researchers to undertake more high quality primary health care research and ensure its relevance to policy and practice by aligning it with identified needs and priorities
• To disseminate and facilitate the uptake of evidence in policy and practice

Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development - Researcher Development Program (PHCRED RDP)

The Researcher Development Program (RDP) is a component of the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) strategy. The aim of the Researcher Development Program is to enhance research capacity amongst primary health care workers, graduates of other disciplines working in primary heath care, and consumers, by providing financial support to undertake research and access to existing infrastructure. Research undertaken as part of the Researcher Development Program should address national health priority areas from a primary health care perspective.

Research Education and Training

In conjunction with one-on-one mentoring for beginner researchers, the PHCRED program facilitates education by delivering research seminars, workshops, and skills training sessions on such topics as:

• Grant Writing
• Ethics Applications
• Literature Reviews
• Data Searching
• Skills training - EndNote, NVIVO, SPSS, Powerpoint

PHCRED Activities

• Journal Club
  Participants meet once a month to discuss published articles. The aim of the group is to develop critical review skills.
• Writers Group
  Meets once a month to support and encourage professional writing by constructively critiquing written work submitted by group participants.
• Writing Retreat
  he UDRH and Discipline of GP, Newcastle jointly hosts this annual one day event away from the work environment. The retreat is an opportunity to network with other writers, to receive mentoring and to have protected time that could be used for writing proposals, reports, newsletters, journal articles, grant applications.