Pathways and Perspective from Family Doctors who are Researchers in Portugal - A Policy Brief Forum for the development of a Strategic view .

Margarida Gil Conde, Paulo Nicola, Raquel Ramos, Ana Rente, Vera Rodrigues

Keywords: Research by Family Doctors

Background:
The need to invest in Primary Care and shift towards Patient-Centered approaches is widely recognized. To support this, it is necessary to create solid Primary Care Community-Based structures. This leads us to the importance of developing research infrastructures in Primary Care and bringing together Clinical Practice and Research which can only be achieved by articulating a clear medium-term comprehensive strategy for promoting quality research.

Research questions:
How can we improve research by Family Doctors in Portugal?

Method:
We will conduct a policy-brief, with researchers, experts, and policy makers, to present the data of the qualitative and quantitative studies from the "Pathways and Perspective from Family Doctors who are Researchers in Portugal" studies, which will examine the panorama of research in Family Medicine in Portugal, namely the challenges to its achievement. The aim of this forum will be to define strategies for the development and promotion of research by Family Doctors in Portugal.

Results:
We will produce a final report with the results from the discussion and conclusions of the Forum as well as the qualitative and quantitative studies.
The format of this document will allow us to monitor and evaluate the adoption of strategies and policies, as well as to create baseline points to evaluate their impact and the evolution of practice and quality of research by Family Doctors in Portugal.

Conclusions:
One of the best-known approaches to the improvement of research in family medicine has been the creation of research networks, in which many practices have been linked to an academic center, to address problems in an organized fashion.
To be able to develop informed strategies that can overcome the challenges encountered, it is important to seek expert opinions about the greatest difficulties that occur in carrying out research in order to understand how and which solutions can be created.

Points for discussion:
Research by Family Doctors

Promotion of Research

Research infrastructure in Primary Care