Paramedics in an emerging role; a reflexive thematic analysis of barriers and enablers to primary care innovation through a community of practice
R Sharples, L Hemming, R Hardman, E Spelten, K Sutherland, G. Agarwal, L Reynolds · 2026
Read Paramedics in an emerging role; a reflexive thematic analysis of barriers and enablers to primary care innovation through a community of practice by R Sharples, L Hemming, R Hardman, E Spelten, K Sutherland, G. Agarwal, L Reynolds (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13520240.txt.
Description
R Sharples leads a team in 2026 tracing how a Canadian community paramedicine program took root across four rural health services in Victoria, Australia. Paramedics ran free drop-in clinics with chronic disease screening, referrals, care guidance, and health education. Notes from 13 monthly meetings of a Community of Practice, where the teams swapped experiences, were mined for what helped and what hindered.
Four themes emerged: workforce development, community engagement, data collection, and program sustainability. Barriers included unclear roles, slow trust-building, heavy paperwork in low-signal areas, and shaky funding. The Community of Practice acted as the engine room, speeding role transitions and practical problem-solving. The authors argue durable change also needs built-in funding for training and the long term.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | R Sharples, L Hemming, R Hardman, E Spelten, K Sutherland, G. Agarwal, L Reynolds |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 45431 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |