Authors (including presenting author) :
Law KP(1), Tjong KH(1), Tung TC(1), Au WS(1), Sheng B(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Clinical Research Centre, Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
The Kowloon West Cluster Clinical Research Centre (KWC-CRC) aims to promote research activities and facilitate investigators in conducting researches. It offers support throughout the entire research timeline from study planning to paper publication. The services output is a good indicator to reflect the research environment in KWC.
Objectives :
To evaluate the research support services provided by KWC-CRC.
Methodology :
KWC-CRC services encompass five key areas: statistical consulting, research training, fieldwork support, facility lending, and grants. This evaluation assesses the service outputs from October 2023 to September 2024. During this period, data were collected on the number of studies supported, the nature of studies, the types of training and resources provided.
Result & Outcome :
KWC-CRC allocated a total of 1,770 hours to support 76 studies from various streams, namely Medical (n=61), Nursing (n=10), Allied Health (n=3), and Administration (n=2). Among these, 60.5% were trainee dissertations, 17.1% were Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) projects, 15.8% were self-initiated studies, and 6.6% were student projects. The Centre produced 10 training videos (average 10-15mins each) focused on the application of common statistics in clinical research, covering the fundamental concepts of statistical testing and practical software use. Additionally, four lectures or workshops had been conducted on research related topics with encouraging feedbacks, around 97.3 % rated good or better in the post event evaluation by the participants. KWC-CRC also provided fieldwork support for three self-initiated studies, contributing 120 hours for data entry, telephone interview and face-to-face interview. Other supports such as storage cabinets and lending notebook computers with statistical software also received good acceptance, with monthly utilization on average 70% and 80% respectively. KWC-CRC also offered annual research grant to support research related activities within KWC, during the study period a total grant amount of $167,929 was offered to four investigator-initiated projects to cover research materials and publication fees. The evaluation highlights KWC-CRC's contributions to enhancing research capabilities within the Kowloon West hospitals. By providing extensive support services and educational resources, the Centre fosters a robust research environment with the ultimate goal of benefiting healthcare outcomes. While the support services provided are commendable, future evaluations could explore the total research productivity in the cluster through these multi-level & multi-modality supports by KWC-CRC.
