An evaluation of opportunistic health checks at cricket matches: the Boundaries for Life initiative

In 2009, a population level health screening programme was established in the UK for people over the age of 40 years. The primary aim of the service was to identify and treat the leading causes of preventable disease and death, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Checks are offered every five years through scheduled appointments at primary care settings, and uptake of such checks has been relatively low to date with 12.7% of those eligible to have a NHS health check receiving one between 2009 and 2013. Non-clinical settings such as sports stadia have previously been used to offer health interventions and opportunistic health checks. Despite relatively modest results in football and rugby settings, professional cricket fixtures with high footfall may offer higher levels of uptake and participant satisfaction, and provide a novel setting for engaging BME communities. This paper describes the process and results from the Boundaries For Life initiative that delivered health checks at professional cricket matches over the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Uptake of the checks was significantly high in comparison to other sports settings, with very strong feedback from participants on the convenience of service.