13 Nov Lord’s Workshop Celebrates Success of Health Checks Delivered by Cricket
Healthy Stadia was proud to present at a recent Boundaries For Life (BFL) workshop held at Lord’s Cricket Ground in November to discuss the role cricket can play in improving the health of fans, staff and the wider community.
Attended by representatives from the England and Wales Cricket Board, public health and dental professionals, plus a wide range of county cricket club community staff, the workshop provided a rich evidence base on how cricket stadia in the UK have been used to perform opportunistic health checks since 2010.
Working with new sponsors, Simply Health, in 2017 Boundaries for Life provided 273 free health checks to fans and staff on matchdays, including cholesterol testing, BMI measurement, blood pressure, and a full mouth screen.
Counties to have participated in hosting screening events in 2017 include Lancashire, Hampshire, Yorkshire (see images below), Sussex and Lord’s Cricket Ground. Of those undertaking checks, 12% were advised to see their GP in the near future, 11% were advised to see their dentist, whilst 3% were recommended to make a medical appointment within the next 3 days.
One of the main arguments made at the workshop was the unique ability of cricket to engage fans in health checks on a matchday owing to the relatively long duration of play and relaxed atmosphere.
Customer feedback from 2017 backed this up with 40% of participants citing the convenience of time and location as the main reason for undertaking a check, whilst 87% of participants rated the service as excellent, and 12% rating it as very good.
Feedback from spectators at Lord’s included:
“A great idea as I probably wouldn’t go to my GP.”
Another fan commented:
“Brilliant to just pop in and have these checks. Reassuring me that what I do to maintain good health is working.”
