#RCSIPulseCheck

The project, #RCSIPulseCheck was a virtual paediatric physical activity and health education project that came about during the COVID19 global pandemic. As the student partner in this project, my preparations and plan-ning began prior to the pandemic and initially the project was supposed to be delivered face-to-face. Building on the concept of student engagement, I proposed the original project to RCSI staff members who provided guidance on how best to deliver an impactful project while empowering my student voice (NStEP, 2021). Due to the extension of Level 5 COVID19 restrictions and ongoing remote schooling, it became apparent that roll out of a face-to-face project in its original format would be a challenge. It became necessary to review the project and shape it into a format that could achieve our aims and be deliverable with our school partners. This deci-sion to pivot into a virtual project required student-staff collaboration to reach our end goal. During this collab-orative effort, it became apparent that the project was suitable for funding from the RCSI Student Engagement and Partnership Programme which provided further impetus for the project. Social media (e.g. Twitter, Instagram) was a facilitator in reaching our target audience, in this case the teachers of school children between the ages of 8-11 years attending 3 Dublin based DEIS schools.

The principal issue that this project was trying to address was that of physical activity promotion and health education among the paediatric population of Ireland. 1 in 5 children in Ireland are overweight (Behan et al, 2018) and a 2019 Dublin City University study of over 2,000 children demonstrated that 78% performed very poorly or below average on fundamental movement testing (Healthy Ireland, 2016). Poor fundamental move-ment skills may have negative implications for children wishing to participate in physical activity, further con-tributing to a potentially more unhealthy society. Physical inactivity has deleterious consequences. According to the World Health Organisation, physical inactivity is estimated to be the principle cause for 21-25% of breast and colon cancers, 27% of diabetes and approximately 30% of ischaemic heart disease burden (WHO, 2019).

The aims of the project were to promote physical activity among schoolchildren attending 3 Dublin DEIS schools (aged 8-11 years) using evidence-based medicine while adhering to Level 5 COVID19 government restrictions. Using online platforms, e.g. RCSI Engage Twitter account, we posted 5 days of age-appropriate, varied and fun physical activities for schoolchildren to complete in an effort to promote physical activity among this population.