Engaging with the evidence in a community health setting.

Abstract

Ballarat Community Health (BCH) aims to deliver high quality health services and programs that are informed by the latest evidence and regularly reviewed and evaluated. Capacity to achieve this is impacted by a range of factors which can act as enablers or barriers. In 2016, staff access to the latest research evidence was identified as a significant barrier. Unless staff were affiliated with a university through teaching or study, access to research literature was limited. Although all staff had access to some journal databases through the Clinicians Health Channel, this was limited and many staff lacked the skills to search the databases which were often viewed as complex and difficult to navigate. In 2017, BCH entered into an agreement with Ballarat Health Services (BHS) to provide staff access to their health library. The library agreement provides streamlined access to a specialised health library and to professional health librarians who assist BCH staff to locate journal articles, provide literature searches and access to table of contents alerts for journals. Targeted training sessions were also delivered to BCH staff under the agreement, providing guidance on using the service, navigating the Clinicians Health Channel and strategies to assist staff to keep up-to-date in their professional area. Staff feedback to the initiative has been very positive, with reported benefits including time effective access to the latest research evidence. Evaluation of staff use of the service revealed staff have requested literature searches to inform research projects, program planning, service delivery and funding submissions.