What is the positive change that has emerged through new collaborations or partnerships during Covid-19 that your project is going to embed?

The JHSA, a subsection of the Health Sciences Academy, has succeeded in bringing together a network of clinicians, academics, researchers and educators from across the region who are passionate about supporting good health practices in young people and stimulating an interest in a healthcare career. This group has identified initiatives to build on these relationships including:

1. Early Careers days: virtual interactive sessions for school students with health professionals, university students, academics and patients providing information on health  as a career,
2. Health Promotion and Leadership: through virtual cafés and advisory groups, young people can identify health promotion priorities and delivery strategies, implementing impactful projects in their schools,
3. Healthy Conversations:  students pair with older persons, or those with a chronic illness, possibly socially isolated, in mutually beneficial educational projects.

Feedback from teachers and students has endorsed this vision and will lead to increasing opportunities for collaboration in the short- to long-term.

What does your project aim to achieve?

The Junior HSA aims to develop and deliver a programme based on the themes of

1.       health as a career,

2.       health promotion, and

3.       leadership,

with students and teachers in primary and secondary schools in the Mid-West of Ireland by October 2023. The principles of equality and diversity underpin the programme, supporting access and opportunity for all.

The short-term objectives are to:

• provide insight into daily working life of healthcare professionals in acute and community services,
• provide information on University courses and alternative routes,
• share students’ University experience,
• develop appreciation and communication skills through engagement with older & people with chronic illness,
• implement a health promotion project in their schools,
• support leadership skills development health promotion projects.

In the longer term, students will:

• be positioned to make more informed choices regarding career opportunities,
• have greater options for health choices,
• have a greater appreciation of the impact of illness,
• have enhanced communication and leadership skills.

How will the project be delivered?

Year One:

Focusing on secondary school students in transition year, a steering committee with key stakeholders and an advisory group comprising students and teachers have been established.

With logic modelling, immediate, medium- and long-term outcome measures were identified including student numbers, evaluations, teacher ratings, CAO applications (by gender).

Strategically aligned, the project involves three work streams:

1.       Early careers:

• Career in health
• Live virtual two-day programme from clinical settings and Q&A
• Available after on www.healthsciencesacademy.ie
• Research ethics application to evaluate its impact.

2.       Health Promotion & Leadership:

• Form health promotion project group
• Apply for ethical approval and develop content
• Students lead a health promotion project
• Students creatively share learning
• Evaluation, including peer, to measure student knowledge and skill development.

3.       Healthy Conversations:

• Form project group
• Refine scope

Year Two:

• In-depth health career information; develop Business in Health strand.
• Carry out ‘Health Conversations’ project.

Year Three: Develop programme for primary school students addressing the themes.

How is your project going to share learning?

The project is an excellent example of successful collaboration, networking and applying the principles of public and patient involvement. We identified an immediate problem – student career events attending clinical and university sites are not possible due to Covid-19; and an opportunity to address this. Other  possibilities have followed on from this.

We utilise key components of successful quality improvement projects:

• Stakeholder mapping and engagement
• Aim statements
• Outcome measurement
• Communication planning
• Plan-do-study-act cycles of change during the project’s development
• Building relationships to implement change
• Shared learning between partners
• Sustainability and spread

We will share our learning internally and externally as follows:

• Partner organisation communication channels, internal and external, including social media, newsletters, Grand Rounds, quality improvement fora, teacher and student events
• Local and national media
• Publications in-house and in relevant journals, both health and education
• RTE Brainstorm- national coverage to a broad population
• Submissions to relevant conferences including Q Conferences