Focus groups exploring the challenges and potential solutions to pharmacy professionals engaging with research in the UK

Abstract

Introduction
Research is essential to the advancement of pharmacy practice; however, engagement within the profession remains limited [1]. Previous studies exploring barriers to research engagement have largely focused on specific sectors [2, 3]. This study builds on this by exploring these challenges across four United Kingdom pharmacy sectors.

Aim
To explore the barriers and enablers of pharmacy professionals engaging with research through the lens of a framework of behaviour change theory.

Methodology
UK-registered pharmacy professionals were recruited via an expression of interest shared across social media and via email and purposively sampled for maximum variation in personal and professional characteristics.

Four sector-specific 90-minute online focus groups were held. Sectors included: community, hospital, primary care, and academia. Thematic analysis [4] was undertaken to develop themes from the data. A second deductive analysis mapped barriers and enablers to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), a behavioural science framework that supports the development of interventions using behaviour change techniques to address barriers/enablers and drive behaviour change [5]. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Leicester.

Results
Of 431 expressions of interest, 48 were sampled and 39 took part; community (pharmacist n = 8, pharmacy technician n = 1), hospital (n = 9, n = 2), primary care (n = 8, n = 2), and academia (n = 7, n = 2).

Three themes spanning all focus groups were developed. The theme “Beliefs about research and its perceived value” included subthemes “perspectives on research”, “prioritisation of research”, and the “value of research”. The barriers/enablers mapped to the TDF included fear of research (Emotion), time for research (Environmental Context and Resources), research understanding (Knowledge), guilt associated with using time for research (Emotion), and awareness of the impacts on policy and patient care (Beliefs about Consequences).

The theme “Research Community” included subthemes on “research networks”, “mentorship”, “sharing research success”, and “workplace community”. The barriers/enablers mapped to the TDF included awareness of networks (Knowledge), peer support (Social Influence), mentoring (Behavioural Regulation), sharing research success (Social Influence), and managers’ value of research (Social/Professional Role and Identity).

The theme “Research as part of professional identity and practice” included subthemes in “research in education and professional development”, “research in careers”, and “moving research forward”. The barriers/enablers included whether research was embedded in job plans (Environmental Context and Resources); research was seen as part of professional roles (Social/Professional Role and Identity); research was encouraged in education and training (Social Influence); research was a professional expectation (Social/Professional Role and Identity); there was confidence to undertake research (Beliefs about Capabilities); and a personal benefit acted as an incentive (Reinforcement).

Discussion
Volunteer bias may have influenced findings as participants were likely to have pre-existing interest in research. While the benefits of research, both for patient outcomes and the professional standing, were well recognised, participants voiced barriers across numerous TDF domains. Thus, any intervention to increase research engagement will need to incorporate a range of behaviour change techniques to effectively address these barriers and enablers. Surprisingly, the barriers and enablers were consistent across the focus groups and therefore the differing sectors of pharmacy. This means that interventions targeting these barriers/enablers will be inclusive to all sectors.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Kinda Ibrahim: orcid.org/0000-0001-5709-3867

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