April Message from NIPC Medical and Research Director

Welcome to the April NIPC E-bulletin. The finer weather and loosening of COVID19 restrictions relating to outdoor activity on April 26 are real opportunities for us all to increase our levels of physical activity and increase our time spent outside of the house.

As proponents of CVD prevention, we must do our utmost to lead by example and I encourage you all to get out and get active! I myself will be redoubling my efforts in this regard over the coming weeks. Indeed, improved mental and physical wellbeing are both crucial as we face into the major challenges before us. NIPC is so busy across several fronts, all with a focus on countering the collateral damage induced by COVID19 on chronic disease prevention. Our research activities include the ongoing international cohort study of secondary prevention (INTERASPIRE), a 1-year follow-up of the iASPIRE national cohort, a manuscript describing the impressive outcomes from the virtual MySlainte lifestyle and risk factor modification programme, and other work towards improving the virtual delivery of future NIPC programmes.

On the education front, Dr. Jenni Jones is broadening our educational offerings with NUIG to meet the upskilling demand created by the roll out of Slaintecare (including a new programme in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation). Finally, from a service delivery perspective, we are working on a model of care for CVD prevention within the new Slaintecare community-based specialist care ambulator hubs, informed by our prior experiences with MyAction and MySlainte, among other activities, and in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders.

-Bill