Virtual mobility grant towards the Best Evidence Statement preparation
I was successful in my Virtual Mobility (VM) grant application as part of the virtual networking tools in DE-PASS cost action CA19101 to further advance the work in Deliverable 2.5 (D2.5) in Work Group 2. As deputy lead of D2.5, I have been coordinating D2.5 activities together with Dr Fiona Ling (D2.5 Lead) from the start in March 2021. The plan is to conduct a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which will lead to the preparation of the Best Evidence Statement on determinants of physical activity behaviours with initial focus on children and adolescents.
The VM activities started in mid-August 2021 where the core group (Dr Fiona Ling, Dr Gavin Tempest, Dr Kwok Ng, Mohammed Khudair, Dr Ratko Peric, and myself) met digitally over subsequent days. As the output of D2.5 feeds into WG3 work, we set up an intensive schedule to ensure we commenced the work with screening papers and data extraction involving the wider D2.5 member group according to our timeline. Together, we refined the search strategy and the protocol, as well as we pilot tested all the documents to be implemented into the Covidence software. It has been a very constructive experience to discuss eligibility criteria, risk of bias and various analysis approaches learning from researchers from different institutions and level of experience.
We were finally able to start screening papers in mid-September 2021 with around 30 DE-PASS members involved in this process and we aim to complete this phase within the first half of November. The collaboration with the core group members will continue beyond the VM grant period and I am looking forward to the next phase!
