Research capacity is the knowledge and skills needed to consume and produce research evidence, and good research culture in the workplace can facilitate these efforts and the development of research capacity. The research-to-practice gap in speech-language pathology has received increasing attention in recent years, and the profession itself is growing across the globe. This presentation will report on a survey conducted with speech-language pathologists in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States regarding their self-perceived research capacity and the research culture of their workplace.

The Research Capacity and Culture survey tool (1) was used to survey respondents. This tool consists of 3 sections: 20 questions about the individual's self-perceived research capacity, and 15 questions each about the individual's team and organisational research culture. Each question asks the respondent to provide a rating of 0-10, 0 being the lowest possible capacity/cultural support, and 10 being the highest.

From a total of 305 responses, 64 were from Australia, 40 from New Zealand, 64 from Hong Kong, 13 from Singapore, 81 from the United Kingdom, and 43 from the United States. Over 90% were female, and 85% were clinical service providers. A third of respondents worked in hospitals, followed by 28% in the community, and 18% in the private sector.

For individuals, the highest rated skill was finding relevant literature (median score=8), the lowest was for securing research funding (median score=2). For both team and organisational research culture, individuals rated the provision of research software to be poor (median scores=2). Teams were good at "planning guided by evidence" (median score=6), but weak in applying for external funding and having mechanisms to monitor research quality (median scores=2). Organisations promoted evidence-based practice (median score=7), but weak in ensuring the availability of research career pathways (median scores=2).

1. Holden, L., Pager, S., Golenko, X., & Ware, R. S. (2012). Validation of the research capacity and culture (RCC) tool: measuring RCC at individual, team and organisation levels. Australian journal of primary health, 18(1), 62-67.