title: Research Partnerships with Healthcare Providers in Rural Community Health Centers: Needs and Challenges in Diabetes Research.
abstract: Kentucky has among the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the United States. The Kentucky Diabetes and Obesity Collaborative (KDOC) was designed to develop a novel research infrastructure that can be used by researchers focusing on obesity and diabetes among patients cared for by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) serving rural Kentucky. Focus groups were carried out to develop an understanding of the needs and interests of FQHC practitioners and staff regarding participation in KDOC. Focus groups were conducted with 6 FQHCs and included a total of 41 individuals including health care providers, administrative staff and clinical staff. The discussions ranged in time from 30 to 70 minutes and averaged 45 minutes. Analysis of the transcripts of the focus groups revealed 4 themes: 1) contextual factors, 2) infrastructure, 3) interpersonal relationships, and 4) clinical features. The participants also noted four requirements that should be met for a research project to be successful in rural primary care settings: 1) there must be a shared understanding of health priorities of rural communities between the researcher and the practices/providers; 2) the proposed research must be relevant to clinics and their communities; 3) research and recommendations for evidence-based interventions need to reflect the day-to-day challenges of rural primary care providers; and 4) there needs to be an understanding of community norms and resources. Although research-clinic partnerships were viewed favourably overall, challenges in data integration to support both research and clinical outcomes were identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, United States.
authors.forename: Traci D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Jarrett
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: F Douglas
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Scutchfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: Jeffery C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Talbert
authors.affiliation: Kentucky Primary Care Association, Frankfort, KY 40601, United States.
authors.forename: W David
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Bolt
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barron
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Houlihan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, United States.
authors.forename: Mark B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Dignan
keywords: Diabetes; Health Information Technology; Primary Care; Qualitative; Rural Health