Research Activity, Skills and Training Needs of Health-Care Professionals, employed in a Leading Medical Centre - Call for Actions - Abstract
Research activities, skills and training needs for health care professionals (HCP) is fundamental for advancing the standards and quality for delivering health care services. This study aims to survey the level of research activity, research skills, training needs, and the research capacity of the healthcare professionals. A universal sampling targeted at the three key therapy disciplines - Occupational Therapy (OT), Speech therapy (ST) and Physiotherapy (PT) was conducted. 195 HCP were approached using a 33-item survey questionnaire.
175 HCP responded, giving a response rate of 89.7 percent. Speech Therapists reported the most active participation in research (85.7%), followed by Physiotherapists (18.1%) and Occupational Therapists (15.3%). With research attitude, only 36.2percent indicated a favorable attitude for research work, but majority (51.1%) are apathetic/neutral towards research activities. A survey on their research skills, showed that majority (60%) cited, fund-application for research as the key barrier, discouraging them from research activity.
This study found undesirable trend of research-interest in a group of young health professionals. With the current lack of financial budget, poor support system and an erosion of professional autonomy amongst HCPs in developing countries; an urgent calls for provision of more university-based education programs with timely policies to speed up progress, is clearly needed across Asia’s entrenched medical system governance.