Is a practice-based rural research network feasible in Europe?

Abstract

Research in family medicine is a well-established entity nationally and internationally, covering all aspects of primary care including remote and isolated practices. However, due to limited capacity and resources in rural family medicine, its potential is not fully exploited yet. An idea to foster European rural primary care research by establishing a practice-based research network has been recently put forward by several members of the European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association (EURIPA) and the European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN). Two workshops on why, and how to design a practice-based research network among rural family practices in Europe were conducted at two international meetings. This paper revisits the definition of practice-based research in family medicine, reflects on the current situation in Europe regarding the research in rural family practice, and discusses a rationale for practice-based research in rural family medicine. A SWOT analysis was used as the main tool to analyse the current situation in Europe regarding the research in rural family practice at both meetings. The key messages gained from these meetings may be employed by the Wonca Working Party on research, the International Federation of Primary Care Research Network and the EGPRN that seek to introduce a practice-based research approach. The cooperation and collaboration between EURIPA and EGPRN creates a fertile ground to discuss further the prospect of a European practice-based rural family medicine research network, and to draw on the joint experience.

Keywords::

• Research
• rural population
• community network
• primary healthcare
• quality improvement

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The ideas presented in this paper were presented at the workshop at the joint meeting of EURIPA and EGPRN in October 2013 in Malta followed by a joint workshop between EURIPA and EGPRN at the Wonca Europe conference in Lisbon in 2014. The authors thank all participants who took part in discussions at both workshops.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.