Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov-Dec;20(6):568-572.
doi: 10.1370/afm.2889.

Primary Care Research Is Hard to Do During COVID-19: Challenges and Solutions

Jodi Summers Holtrop  1 , Melinda M Davis  2
Affiliations

Primary Care Research Is Hard to Do During COVID-19: Challenges and Solutions

Jodi Summers Holtrop et al. Ann Fam Med. 2022 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Conducting research in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic is hard, due to baseline stresses on primary care, which have been compounded by the pandemic. We acknowledge and validate primary care researchers' frustrations. Using our experience on over 15 individual projects during the pandemic we identify 3 key challenges to conducting primary care research: (1) practice delivery trickle-down effects, (2) limited/changing resources and procedures for research, and (3) a generally tense milieu in US society during the pandemic. We present strategies, informed by a set of questions, to help researchers decide how to address these challenges observed during our studies. In order to overcome and grow from these challenging times we encourage normalization and self-compassion, and encourage researchers and funders to embrace pragmatic and adaptive research designs as the circumstances with COVID-19 evolve over time.

Keywords: COVID-19; primary health care; research personnel.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Health Care Services; Committee on Implementing High-Quality Primary Care, Robinson SK, Meisnere M, Phillips RL Jr., McCauley L, eds. Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care. National Academies Press; 2021. - PubMed
    1. Yarnall KSH, Pollak KI, Østbye T, Krause KM, Michener JL.. Primary care: Is there enough time for prevention? Am J Public Health. 2003; 93(4): 635-641. 10.2105/ajph.93.4.635 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Privett N, Guerrier S.. Estimation of the time needed to deliver the 2020 USPSTF preventive care recommendations in primary care. Am J Public Health. Jan 2021; 111(1): 145-149. 10.2105/ajph.2020.305967 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Altschuler J, Margolius D, Bodenheimer T, Grumbach K.. Estimating a reasonable patient panel size for primary care physicians with team-based task delegation. Ann Fam Med. 2012; 10(5): 396-400. 10.1370/afm.1400 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Willard-Grace R, Knox M, Huang B, Hammer H, Kivlahan C, Grumbach K.. Burnout and health care workforce turnover. Ann Fam Med. 2019; 17(1): 36-41. 10.1370/afm.2338 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types