Integrating Research into the Culture of Allied Health Professions: The Background and a Review of Issues in the United Kingdom

This article reviews the challenges and barriers to change associated with development of a research culture in allied health professions within the higher education sector. We address the cultural upheaval and alterations in ways of working experienced by higher education and the health professions in recent times as a result of government policy as it applies to education and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Cooperation between higher education and the National Health Service in developing a culture of research in the health professions is fundamental to achieving evidence-based practice in health care. Improving research capability is hampered, however, by lack of funding and institutional barriers to change and barriers within individuals. Engendering a sense of identity and ownership in relation to change and a strategic approach to the next Research Assessment Exercise are essential if allied health professional programs are to survive within higher education.