Welcome to VicReN - the Victorian Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network
The Victorian Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (VicReN) is a collaboration between the Primary Care Research Unit, Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne, and primary care practices around Victoria.
Established in 2007, VicReN is an exciting new venture that we hope will spur the development of important and high quality primary care research in Victoria that is relevant to clinical practice and through this to primary care policy-making.
What is VicReN?
VicReN is a practice-based research network (PBRN). PBRNs work by bringing primary care practitioners (GPs, practice nurses, community and allied heath practitioners) together with academic GPs and other researchers in long-term collaborations to conduct research that matters to practitioners and that makes a difference to the delivery of primary care.
Both sides benefit. Practitioners have the opportunity to develop their research skills and to investigate clinical questions they are interested in, while academic GPs and researchers can access practitioners’ expertise and experience, as well as a practice base.
PBRNs make possible research of a scale and quality that would otherwise be beyond the individual practitioner, and help ensure that it is firmly grounded in the reality of day-to-day primary care.
Why does Victoria need a PBRN?
Good health practice, health policy and health service planning rely upon relevant, high quality research. Although most health care occurs in the community, research in community settings receives very little funding in comparison to hospital or laboratory-based research.
One reason for this is that conducting research involving patients, practitioners or systems out in the community is logistically challenging. By providing an infrastructure to support practice-based research, PBRNs can help overcome these difficulties and help generate research that is relevant to both clinical practice and health policy.
VicReN represents a new opportunity to participate in the establishment of practice-based research across both urban and rural settings in Victoria.