Abstract Introduction
The Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (CLAHRC West) was funded to undertake applied research to improve local population health and healthcare. Alongside this, it sought to establish a capacity building programme to develop skills in research and evidence in the health and social care workforce.MethodAn initial scoping exercise identified needs of the workforce in research skills training, including a lack of provision outside academia, especially for the voluntary sector who help deliver public health services. An interprofessional training programme was developed for public health staff working in commissioning, local authorities, voluntary sector and the NHS. Courses were evaluated by attendees, which included stating one action that would be taken as a result of the training.
Results
Since May 2015, CLAHRC West has delivered 116 courses to 1,171 health and social care staff. 258 (22%) attendances were by non-academic public health staff mainly working in local authorities and charities. Popular courses included: Finding evidence, Service evaluation, Critical appraisal, Public health economics, and Basic statistics. Other key staff groups came from universities (17%), secondary care (16%) and commissioning (12%). Courses were highly evaluated (3.6/4).
Conclusion
CLAHRC West's innovative strategy to capacity building delivers a unique range of courses to diverse professions and sectors. Through this flexible and collaborative approach, it has helped to address the training needs of the public health workforce. CLAHRC West continues to build on this work to further engage audiences working in areas such as the wider determinants of health. External funding details