Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the Rural Research Capacity Building Program on self-reported research experience of rural health workers.
Design: A repeat cross-sectional study design was used to assess self-reported research experience at the commencement and completion of a novice researcher development program.
Setting: Candidates in the Rural Research Capacity Building Program are health workers employed in the rural NSW public health service who have not completed research higher degrees.
Participants: One hundred and thirty candidates of the Rural Research Capacity Building Program from the 2006 to 2013 cohorts were participated.
Interventions: The Rural Research Capacity Building Program is an experiential learning program in which candidates gain research experience by undertaking a new, self-selected, local health service endorsed research project over a 2-year period, supported by 10 days face-to-face teaching, weekly teleconferencing and mentoring.
Main outcome measures: Change in self-assessed research experience using a validated 10-item measurement tool known as the Research Spider which measures 10 domains of research experience.
Results: Reported research experience demonstrated statistically significant increases across all 10 domains of research experience. The largest change was 'writing and presenting a research report' and 'writing a research protocol'.
Conclusions: Significant increases in Research Spider results across all 10 domains demonstrated that completing the Rural Research Capacity Building Program significantly improves self-assessed research experience. Rural health workers who are experienced and confident to undertake research are more capable of studying health problems and finding solutions unique to the rural setting.
Keywords: Research Spider; capacity building; research; rural; self-assessment of research experience.
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