Challenges of Collaborating and Conducting International Research Professor David Arthur Head Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies Asia-Pacific Research Symposium Griffith University

Research Collaboration Working Together Overview Issues confronting nursing Driving government initiatives Opportunities and challenges Examples of collaborative studies

If we are to be a truly visible, evidence- based profession we need to be informing all our colleagues about our research globally Regional Problems in Research Dissemination and Uptake Dissemination 1 st P ROBL EM

Many conferences every year where research is reported in Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore PUMC in Beijing last August - over 150 papers presented Mahidol University in Bangkok, January papers 7 th National Mental Health in Nursing Conference, China (2000) -157 papers And, vice-versa! Regional Problems in Research Dissemination and Uptake How many of these studies were disseminated into English language journals?

a conference paper should be turned into a paper for a refereed nursing journal How many of the 450 research studies mentioned above have you read, or incorporated into your research or clinical practice? Regional Problems in Research Dissemination and Uptake Having conference papers published 2 nd P ROBL EM

Regional Problems in Research Dissemination and Uptake 3 rd P ROBL EM Uptake of research for the benefits of the profession and our consumers Solution? Multi-site research collaborations across cultures and countries are one way of helping achieve this Developing research capacity in nursing

Global Doom and Gloom Predicting the future Half of the population over 60 years old in 50 years, epidemics of Alzheimer’s Disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease in huge numbers “Learning how to pre-empt illness through molecular knowledge and behavioural interventions is the only viable strategy for maintaining nation’s health in the coming years” Is this the ‘perfect storm’ for the health care industry?

Government drive Singapore’s Research Initiatives In 2004, the Research Innovation & Enterprise Council (REIC) was formed and recommended to intensify national R&D spending to achieve 3% GDP by 2010, meaning the public sector R&D budget was more than doubled to billion $1.4 billion over the next five years for biomedical sciences, environmental and water technologies, and interactive and digital media

Translational Clinical Research The biomedical sciences research direction is in harmony with translational health care research or ‘bench to bedside research’ National Research Foundation Research Fellowship Scheme We need research to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare practice; to increase the equity of healthcare provision; and to promote the status and development of the nursing profession collaboration is one way

Opportunities of Collaboration Professional growth Circulation of knowledge Cross pollination of ideas More effective and creative means of answering complex research questions Quality outputs Increased productivity More competitive grant applications

Challenges of Collaboration Managing ownership Planning and orientation Responding to different perspectives Developing common goals Forging and maintaining trust Good leadership Access to experts Diversity amongst collaborators Time Resources: value for money in Asia Clear communication

Models of Conducting Collaborative International Research First approach involves conducting research in a variety of countries or extending research to other countries which often have disparate levels of development. Second approach is to examine beliefs, values, and cultural practices of people of other countries to understand how these may affect their health.

Models of Conducting Collaborative International Research Third approach is active collaborative research teams with investigators conducting comparative research in their respective countries (Callister el al 2006). Benefits include sharing resources, increasing publication output, gaining access to data, cheaper RAs.

Table 1 : Global Research Priorities Global patterns of health and illness, including maternal and infant morbidity and mortality and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Sociocultural health and illness beliefs and practices. The effects of sociocultural context on health and illness. Health care delivery systems, including community-based models of care. Sustainable development. Transitional life events such as birth, death, puberty, childbearing, and childrearing. Core competencies for professional nursing practice and promotion of culturally competent evidence-based nursing care. Models of nursing care in healthy practice environments. Data from Ahn, Grimwood, Schwarzwald, & Herman, 2003; Dickenson-Hazard, 2004; Giger & Davidhizar, 2004; Lorensen, 2002; Nieswiadomy, 2002; Renfrew et al., 2003; World Health Organization, 2003; Wright et al., Collaborate, on what?

Examples of Collaborative Research in Multi-site Settings 1. A collaborative multi-site descriptive study examining nurse characteristics (professional self concept, caring and technological influence). 2. Comparative replications of 1. in NZ, Scotland, UK and Korea 3. A collaborative controlled trial of family education PSI for with people schizophrenia in Beijing, China 4. A collaborative RCT for problem drinkers in Beijing 5. A collaborative multi-site RCT using self help manual for patients recovering from myocardial infarction

The huge amount of energy in the region The rapid development of scholarship in China particularly and all EAFONS countries The large numbers of PhD students particularly from Korea and Thailand The problems with getting published in the first languages Research not being shared because of our lack of common language

There is no doubt we are scholarly profession with a bright future, which will be brighter and occur quicker if we:  Share our innovations in conference  Collaborate in research studies  Build a critical mass of scholars  Retain them  Identify our best scholarly communities send our scholars there: do we have an equivalent of Oxford, Harvard, Yale?  More international exchange and collaboration  Other disciplines join nursing  Develop innovative nurse-led practice linking the schools with the clinical area C H A LLEN GE S O U R

Conclusion In a changing world collaborative multi-site research: a wonderful learning experience enriches practice understanding of people and cultures

Conclusion My Lessons learnt: Provide good leadership Communicate regularly Understand others’ culture and behaviour Meet regularly Work with people who will perform (no passengers!) Deliver what you promise Have fun!!

A dynamic few decades! I like the future, I plan to spend the rest of my life in it!