Embedding a Culture of Research in Canadian Community Hospitals
This study aims to understand how research culture is experienced and shaped in Canadian community hospitals to provide strategies for strengthening community hospital research culture. This qualitative interpretive study employed Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture as a theoretical framework to identify the underlying components of research culture. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The final sample included 38 participants, representing 20 different community hospitals across 6 provinces. As community hospital research programs advanced, participants described a shift in research culture based on three key themes: Awareness and Engagement, Understanding the ‘Why’ and Leadership Support and Organizational Commitment. Aligning with each theme, recommended strategies to achieve an embedded culture of research involve six categories: communications; relationship building; mentorship, training and education opportunities; selecting locally relevant studies; system-level support; and ‘top-down’ versus ‘bottom-up’ approaches. These findings illustrate how research culture is experienced in community hospitals and offers targeted strategies for strengthening community hospital research culture at various levels of experience. Overall, strengthening community hospital research culture is necessary for improving Canadian health system research capacity.
Organizational Culture, Research Culture, Research Capacity, Community Hospital
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