Research is best applied to where it has been conducted. However, general practice has been traditionally shunned as a site for research by clinical trialists. The reasons for this lie in both the trialists and the primary care sector. Recognisable barriers to the conduct of research in general practice include the competing clinical care burden, geographical dispersion, lack of research experience, and funding. These barriers can be addressed by investigators working with clinicians familiar with the breadth and variety of the sector. There are also enablers such as the rich clinical datasets that act like clinical clearing houses for trial outcome ascertainment.

At this session four international experienced primary care researchers will briefly present their approaches to addressing barriers and utilising enablers to allow successful completion of trials in general practice. Such discussions will include, but is not limited to, research practice networks, in practice support for GPs as site principal investigators, utilising primary care routine data for follow-up/outcomes, different approaches for different problems (e.g., cholesterol lowering vs Covid-19 treatments), how this may differ between countries, and how we can collaborate internationally.

A general discussion will follow allowing attendees to voice their own experiences and perhaps lead to a common learning outcome.

1. To learn of successful methods of conducting trials in primary care
2. To share their experiences of research in their clinical practice
3. To meet like-minded individuals for possible future collaboration

Wonca World is a founding member of the Primary Health Care Research Consortium (PHCRC). Between 2017 and 2023, the PHCRC conducted an analysis of evidence gaps in primary health care research and then proceeded to conduct initial research to address some of the key global questions. The PHCRC is committed to research led by low- and middle-income countries and is focused on research that helps to strengthen primary health care in this context. Other members of the consortium include the Primafamed Network (sub-Saharan Africa), idccr’b (Bangladesh), George Institute for Global Health (India and Australia) American University of Beirut (Lebanon), George Eashington University (USA), and NorthWestern University (USA).
In this professional forum the PHCRC will report on the body of work conducted to date:
• Overview of the PHCRC, evidence-gaps and research priorities
• How are different LMICs implementing PHC team integration to support comprehensive primary health care? A multi-country mixed methods study – Mexico, Uganda, India
• Characterizing the Use of Primary Health Care (PHC) Performance Information: A multiple case study in El Salvador, Lebanon and Malawi
• An International Survey on the Integration of Public Health and Primary Care in COVID-19 Vaccination Campaigns (with Besrour Centre)
• Identifying effective primary health care service delivery models for integrated management of non-communicable chronic diseases in resource-constrained settings (with GACD
This will be followed by a discussion on future primary health care research priorities and how Wonca can engage further in this work.

The session will be attended by several other members of the PHCRC who have been engaged with the work: Rohina Joshi (University of New South Wales, Australia), David Peiris (George Institute, Australia) Innocent Besigye (Makerere University, Uganda), Martha Makwero (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi), David Ponka (Besrour Centre, Canada), Praveen Devarsetty (George Institute, India).

Describe the latest evidence on strengthening primary health care service delivery in low- and middle-income countries from the PHCRC, learn about the work of the consortium and how they might be more involved.