Development of a research preparedness checklist for public health organisations: a Delphi study

Building research capacity requires organisations to provide resources and infrastructure that meet the needs of their researchers. Periodic organisational self-assessment should be undertaken to reflect the current research support available and to guide future organisational planning. This study aimed to develop a checklist to help health organisations assess research preparedness.

A draft checklist of research preparedness items was constructed, with 64 items grouped into seven themes, based on existing tools and previous research. The Directors of Research (or delegate) from 17 local health districts/specialty health networks across New South Wales, Australia, were invited to participate in a two-round modified Delphi survey. They were asked to rate the importance and relevance of each checklist item and to identify whether each item should be left, deleted or modified in the final checklist. Consensus was set at a 70% or more level of agreement for items to be retained.

Respondents (10 female:4 male) from 14 districts/specialty networks completed round one of the modified Delphi survey, and 13 completed round two. In round one, 58 items achieved consensus, and these items then progressed to round two. Eight new items were suggested and included for consideration in round two. In round two, 62 of the 66 items achieved consensus, including 19 items that obtained 100% agreement after two rounds. The final 62 items were grouped under six themes: infrastructure, communication, consumer engagement, outcomes, training and financial support.

This research is the first study to develop a research preparedness checklist to guide Australian health organisations to better support and build research capacity. Further research is needed to determine the utility of the scale in other settings.