title: Series: The research agenda for general practice/family medicine and primary health care in Europe. Part 6: reaction on commentaries - how to continue with the Research Agenda?
abstract: The Research Agenda should be used as a key reference point to which new research should relate its usefulness and added value. Primary care evolves towards more interdisciplinary care, and research should focus more on the core competency of person-centred team care. There is an urgent need to develop clear definitions and appropriate research instruments for this domain. It will be a particular challenge to study comprehensive approaches in primary-care patients with multi-morbidity. The Research Agenda and the commentaries on it show future directions for primary care research. There are challenges related to a changing society, the shared responsibility and guidance of research by professionals and citizens (patients), and the need to fully integrate research as part of primary healthcare provision. There will be a need for a prioritization of spearheads to guide primary care research for the next decade: translational research, research on equity and health differences, on chronic disease and health systems research. This can not be realized without the development and maintenance of a solid research infrastructure: easily maintained and accessed observational databases, helpful information technology, strategies and techniques for patient involvement, advanced research training possibilities, and the development and validation of appropriate research instruments and outcome measures to capture the different challenges. Worldwide, primary care not only is a priority for health care policy, but it needs to become a research priority as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care, University of Antwerp, Belgium. paul.vanroyen@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Royen
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chevallier
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eilat-Tsanani
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lionis
authors.forename: Lieve
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peremans
authors.forename: Davorina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petek
authors.forename: Imre
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rurik
authors.forename: Jean Karl
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.forename: Henri E J H
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Stoffers
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Topsever
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ungan
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hummers-Pradier
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D005060:Europe; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration; D058006:General Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends