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Global health
Original research
Measuring research capacity development in healthcare workers: a systematic review
  1. Davide Bilardi1,2,
  2. Elizabeth Rapa3,
  3. Sarah Bernays4,5,
  4. Trudie Lang1
  1. 1Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Oxford, UK
  2. 2Fondazione Penta Onlus, Padova, Italy
  3. 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  4. 4School of Public Health, University of Sydney–Sydney Medical School Nepean, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  5. 5Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Davide Bilardi; davide.bilardi{at}gtc.ox.ac.uk

Abstract

Objectives A key barrier in supporting health research capacity development (HRCD) is the lack of empirical measurement of competencies to assess skills and identify gaps in research activities. An effective tool to measure HRCD in healthcare workers would help inform teams to undertake more locally led research. The objective of this systematic review is to identify tools measuring healthcare workers’ individual capacities to conduct research.

Design Systematic review and narrative synthesis using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist for reporting systematic reviews and narrative synthesis and the Critical Appraisals Skills Programme (CASP) checklist for qualitative studies.

Data sources 11 databases were searched from inception to 16 January 2020. The first 10 pages of Google Scholar results were also screened.

Eligibility criteria We included papers describing the use of tools/to measure/assess HRCD at an individual level among healthcare workers involved in research. Qualitative, mixed and quantitative methods were all eligible. Search was limited to English language only.

Data extraction and synthesis Two authors independently screened and reviewed studies using Covidence software, and performed quality assessments using the extraction log validated against the CASP qualitative checklist. The content method was used to define a narrative synthesis.

Results The titles and abstracts for 7474 unique records were screened and the full texts of 178 references were reviewed. 16 papers were selected: 7 quantitative studies; 1 qualitative study; 5 mixed methods studies; and 3 studies describing the creation of a tool. Tools with different levels of accuracy in measuring HRCD in healthcare workers at the individual level were described. The Research Capacity and Culture tool and the ‘Research Spider’ tool were the most commonly defined. Other tools designed for ad hoc interventions with good generalisability potential were identified. Three papers described health research core competency frameworks. All tools measured HRCD in healthcare workers at an individual level with the majority adding a measurement at the team/organisational level, or data about perceived barriers and motivators for conducting health research.

Conclusions Capacity building is commonly identified with pre/postintervention evaluations without using a specific tool. This shows the need for a clear distinction between measuring the outcomes of training activities in a team/organisation, and effective actions promoting HRCD. This review highlights the lack of globally applicable comprehensive tools to provide comparable, standardised and consistent measurements of research competencies.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42019122310.

  • organisational development
  • organisation of health services
  • medical education & training
  • public health

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article. The complete data set generated by the systematic review and included in the extraction log is available upon request.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046796

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article. The complete data set generated by the systematic review and included in the extraction log is available upon request.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors DB and ER designed and conducted the systematic review. DB wrote the draft of the systematic review and revised it according to the commentaries of ER, SB and TL. DB provided the final version of the manuscript. ER critically reviewed the manuscript and substantially contributed to the final version of the manuscript. SB critically reviewed both the design of the systematic review and the manuscript, and was involved in the development of meaningful inclusion criteria. TL critically reviewed the design of the study, made important suggestions for improvement, critically reviewed the manuscript and substantially contributed to the final version of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.