Developing a toolkit to support research engagement in community pharmacy (DARE-CP) study protocol

Abstract

Background Healthcare delivery in the UK is shifting towards community-based, preventative, and population-focused care. Community pharmacy is well placed to support this transition. The importance of community pharmacy has been highlighted by national policies alongside the need for strong research foundations within this setting. Despite major changes in community pharmacy and its easy accessibility to wide and diverse communities, research engagement remains limited. Evidence on the barriers to community pharmacy research engagement and how to overcome these is scarce. This project aims to co-develop a toolkit to enhance research engagement in community pharmacy and to widely disseminate findings to key stakeholders to support implementation. Protocol This study will use a Community of Practice (CoP) framework and will draw on the principles of Implementation Mapping (IM). The CoP will include key stakeholders to support the co-development of the research engagement toolkit. Stakeholders will include patients/public members and representatives from pharmacy, primary and secondary care, academia, commissioning, and research delivery professionals. Five meetings will be held online with the CoP (n = up to 15). Meetings will be recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed to identify common, emerging themes., to support the toolkit co-development. A separate patient and public advisory group will also be established to provide guidance and assistance across the duration of the study. The CoP and patient and public advisory group will advise on the most appropriate dissemination routes to reach the widest audience so that our recommendations help to build community pharmacy research. Discussion Despite its central role in the healthcare system, and its easy accessibility to wider and diverse communities, community pharmacy engagement in research is still limited. A collaborative CoP stakeholder group would help better how to overcome barriers and to co-develop a toolkit to enhance research engagement and build research capacity, thus supporting greater participation in research.