The PHYSIO-GO challenge badge

With the number of young people choosing to enter some health profession careers reducing nationally, there is a clear need to develop ways to attract and recruit young people to meet our workforce and professions’ needs.  

The PHYSI-GO challenge badge presents a new, exciting and innovative way to promote physiotherapy as a career to young people and increase their knowledge and awareness of the profession.  

The unofficial challenge badge was developed by Suzanne Hubble, who at the time was a University of Plymouth physiotherapy student, and physiotherapy lecturers Sian Goddard and Christie Robinson in collaboration with the Plymouth East Girl Guiding Division. 

A range of fun but educational activities were developed and graded in terms of level of difficulty to be applicable to girls from the age of 5-18, to capture Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers respectively.  

The activities were also divided into four domains to reflect core areas of practice – physical activity and the MSK system, the nervous and cardiovascular systems and ‘Being part of the physiotherapy profession’.

There are over 30 activities for Guiding groups to choose from, including baking gingerbread skeletons, making lungs, undertaking balance assessments, learning about SMART goals, designing physical activity posters, undertaking the bleep test, designing a prosthesis, making goniometers, mindfulness activities, movement analysis and even PHYSI-GO Monopoly! 

Activities were tested and approved by young people during the development and Guides at Plympton East Pack were the first to complete the challenge and receive their PHYSI-GO badges from the University of Plymouth. 

Providing feedback on the initiative, the 19th Plymouth Guides and Rangers group said: ‘We really enjoyed learning more about our bodies, trying some balance challenges and exploring the jobs in the healthcare sector.’

With over 300,000 Guides nationally we hope that engagement with the challenge badge will help inspire the next generation of physiotherapists.

So, we would encourage colleagues to share it with their local guiding groups. 

Find out more about PHYSI-GO visit their website. 

• Christie Robinson is associate head of school and a lecturer in physiotherapy at the University of Plymouth.
• Sian Goddard is programme lead for the pre-reg MSc physiotherapy programme at the University of Plymouth.
• Suzanne Hubble is a University of Plymouth graduate and a senior emergency care physio at University Hospitals Plymouth.