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. 2024 Dec;71(12):1755-1768.
doi: 10.1007/s12630-024-02873-4. Epub 2024 Dec 10.

Factors influencing community intensive care unit research participation: a qualitative descriptive study

Paige Gehrke #  1 , Kian Rego #  2   3 , Elaina Orlando  2 , Susan Jack  1 , Madelyn Law  3 , Deborah Cook  4   5 , Rosa M Marticorena  6 , Alexandra Binnie  7   8 , Jennifer L Y Tsang  2   5
Affiliations

Factors influencing community intensive care unit research participation: a qualitative descriptive study

Paige Gehrke et al. Can J Anaesth. 2024 Dec.

Abstract
in English, French

Purpose: Community hospitals account for 90% of hospitals in Canada, but clinical research is mainly conducted in academic hospitals. Increasing community hospital research participation can improve generalizability of study results, while also accelerating study recruitment and increasing staff engagement. We aimed to identify and describe the factors that influence community intensive care unit (ICU) research participation and the development, implementation, and sustainability of a community ICU research program.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews. Between April 2022 and May 2023, we interviewed a purposeful sample of individuals interested or involved in community hospital research in Canadian community ICUs. We analyzed qualitative data using both conventional content analysis and rapid qualitative analysis. Findings were deductively mapped out using the Ecological Model of Health Behavior. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Participants included 23 health care workers, ten research staff, and five hospital administrators (n = 38) from 20 community hospitals across six provinces in Canada. The main factors associated with community ICU research participation were 1) infrastructure, 2) personnel characteristics, 3) key relationships and connections, and 4) the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion: In this qualitative descriptive study, participants identified the physical resources, skills, and relationships required to start and sustain a clinical research program in a Canadian community ICU. Our findings suggest that all levels of the Canadian health care system need to invest in strengthening community hospital research capacity to increase research participation.

Objectif: Les hôpitaux communautaires représentent 90 % des hôpitaux au Canada, mais la recherche clinique est principalement menée dans les hôpitaux universitaires. L’augmentation de la participation à la recherche dans les hôpitaux communautaires peut améliorer la généralisabilité des résultats des études, tout en accélérant le recrutement et en mobilisant l’engagement du personnel. Notre objectif était d’identifier et de décrire les facteurs qui influencent la participation à la recherche dans les unités de soins intensifs (USI) communautaires ainsi que l’élaboration, la mise en œuvre et la durabilité d’un programme de recherche communautaire en USI. MéTHODE: Nous avons mené une étude descriptive qualitative à l’aide d’entretiens semi-directifs. Entre avril 2022 et mai 2023, nous avons interrogé un échantillon ciblé de personnes intéressées ou impliquées dans la recherche en milieu hospitalier communautaire dans les unités de soins intensifs communautaires du Canada. Nous avons analysé les données qualitatives en utilisant à la fois l’analyse de contenu conventionnelle et l’analyse qualitative rapide. Les résultats ont été cartographiés de manière déductive à l’aide du modèle écologique de comportement en matière de santé. Les données quantitatives de l’enquête ont été analysées à l’aide de statistiques descriptives. RéSULTATS: Les participant·es comprenaient 23 travailleurs et travailleuses de la santé, dix membres du personnel de recherche et cinq membres de l’administration hospitalière (n = 38) provenant de 20 hôpitaux communautaires répartis dans six provinces du Canada. Les principaux facteurs associés à la participation à la recherche en USI dans les collectivités étaient 1) l’infrastructure, 2) les caractéristiques du personnel, 3) les relations et les liens clés, et 4) la pandémie de COVID-19.

Conclusion: Dans cette étude descriptive qualitative, les participant·es ont identifié les ressources physiques, les compétences et les relations nécessaires pour démarrer et maintenir un programme de recherche clinique dans une unité de soins intensifs communautaire canadienne. Nos constatations suggèrent que tous les niveaux du système de soins de santé canadien doivent investir dans le renforcement de la capacité de recherche des hôpitaux communautaires afin d’accroître la participation à la recherche.

Keywords: community hospital; critical care; research capacity; research culture.

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Conflict of interest statement

Drs Jennifer Tsang and Alexandra Binnie are clinician-scientists and clinical research program leads working in Canadian community hospitals with established research programs. Dr. Jennifer Tsang is the Executive Director and Chief Scientist of a community hospital-based research institute. Dr. Alexandra Binnie leads the Critical Care Research Program at a community hospital. Both Drs. Alexandra Binnie and Jennifer Tsang are cofounders and cochairs of the Canadian Community ICU Research Network. Kian Rego is a research co-ordinator, and Drs Elaina Orlando and Rosa Marticorena are research managers working in Canadian community hospitals with established research programs.

References

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