• Paige Gehrke, Kian Rego, Elaina Orlando, Susan Jack, Madelyn Law, Deborah Cook, Rosa M Marticorena, Alexandra Binnie, and TsangJennifer L YJLY0000-0002-1809-0505Niagara Health Knowledge Institute, Niagara Health, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada..
• Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
• Can J Anaesth. 2024 Dec 10.

PurposeCommunity hospitals account for 90% of hospitals in Canada, but clinical research is mainly conducted in academic hospitals. Increasing community hospital research participation can improve generalizability of study results, while also accelerating study recruitment and increasing staff engagement. We aimed to identify and describe the factors that influence community intensive care unit (ICU) research participation and the development, implementation, and sustainability of a community ICU research program.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews. Between April 2022 and May 2023, we interviewed a purposeful sample of individuals interested or involved in community hospital research in Canadian community ICUs. We analyzed qualitative data using both conventional content analysis and rapid qualitative analysis. Findings were deductively mapped out using the Ecological Model of Health Behavior. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsParticipants included 23 health care workers, ten research staff, and five hospital administrators (n = 38) from 20 community hospitals across six provinces in Canada. The main factors associated with community ICU research participation were 1) infrastructure, 2) personnel characteristics, 3) key relationships and connections, and 4) the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionIn this qualitative descriptive study, participants identified the physical resources, skills, and relationships required to start and sustain a clinical research program in a Canadian community ICU. Our findings suggest that all levels of the Canadian health care system need to invest in strengthening community hospital research capacity to increase research participation.© 2024. The Author(s).

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