The Partnered Learning Project

Project Handbook

A Guide to Early Planning for the Development of an Interprofessional Collaboration and Education Program in a Healthcare Setting


8.0  Research


Questions to Consider

 

  1. Research Questions:  Are your research questions documented in clearly written language?  Click here for more questions...
Is the scope of the research questions appropriately matched to the aims and resources of your initiative?


  1. Ethics Approvals: What, if any, ethical approvals will be required? Click here for more questions...
Will more than one research ethics approval be required to fully implement the project?  If so, can a portion of the material be written in a manner that will serve multiple applications?  What are the terms for expedited review and does this project satisfy the criteria?  Is there someone familiar with the application process who will offer advice on the preparation of the application? Can the Research Ethics application be written broadly enough to allow for possible adaptations to the implementation strategy as experience builds, without having to return for further approval?  Have you built into your timeline the necessary months to achieve this approval at all sites?

 

  1. Data Collection: What type of data will you collect to answer the research questions?  Will you collect qualitative data, quantitative data, or both? Click here for more questions...
Do you have the required expertise on your team to oversee the proposed data collection and analysis?  Can you access data that already exists, such as institutional surveys?  What primary data will you need to collect and what resources will be required?  Who will oversee the individuals charged with collecting and managing these data to ensure consistency and confidentiality?

 

  1. Data Recording:  Do you have or can you develop an appropriate database to store and organize the data you collect? Click here for more questions...
Where will this database be housed?  Will the database need to exist beyond the study timeline, to satisfy ethical requirements for retaining study data? 

 

  1. Data Analysis:  How will the research analysis unfold, particularly as it may extend beyond the timeframe of the training and placement implementation? Click here for more questions...
What structures and strategies will need to be in place to support this ongoing work of the research team?  Have questions of authorship and intellectual property been addressed?

 

  1. Dissemination of Results:  How will you disseminate the results of your research activities? Click here for more questions...
Who are your audiences?  Are your proposed dissemination methods sufficient and appropriate to reach your intended audiences?  Have you investigated possible limitations or restrictions, particularly with regard to publishing, which might influence your dissemination choices or timetable?

 

Our Story

 

PLP Challenges and Strategies

  1. The feedback from the pilot workshop made it clear that, in terms of capacity building, the focus of the workshop needed to be narrowed from an initial emphasis on changing collaborative practice on teams. The limited amount of time devoted to team training in the project design could not be expected to produce visible changes in practice. 

    We shifted the workshop emphasis to understanding and promoting interprofessional collaboration in team practice in order to create rich learning environments for placement students who would interact with the teams. This shift in turn required careful refining of the team training curriculum.


  2. We had originally sought to access institutional data already collected regarding staff satisfaction, based on the hypothesized link between staff satisfaction levels and effective collaborative practice. However, consultation with database experts responsible for this data revealed that target staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction data was not retrievable at the team level. While such opportunistic data may have been a powerful aspect of our pre/post evaluation process, these data were not useable for our purposes.
    This data component was not pursued in the final design.  As an alternative, an increased emphasis was placed on follow-up interview data following the workshop.

  3. For those who are contemplating incorporating research into their activities, compliance with the institutional research ethics review policies will also be a critical part of the preparation. We found that the research ethics cultures and processes varied from institution to institution. In the PLP project for example, these differences were demonstrated through the need to very clearly articulate the distinction between activities that would be considered a part of the ongoing innovations of student placement practices (thus not necessarily requiring participant consent) and activities that were research based (thus requiring participant consent), in order to secure ethics approval. Furthermore, observational research methods were quite new to one of our institutional settings.

    Part way through the project team members developed and documented a more explicit articulation of the way that the research was being integrated with educational activities. Also, a more elaborate introduction process was followed and a more gradual consenting process was used for tentative team members.