Simplyhealth Professionals announces a third season of sponsorship for Boundaries For Life

Founded in 2010 by Dr Chet Trivedy, a dual-qualified dentist and doctor, Boundaries for Life provides a valuable service to help users to understand their current health as well as any risk of developing health issues in the future. The programme is made possible by a team of volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses and non-clinical helpers, who check users for signs and risks of health issues including blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, heart age, mouth cancer and obesity.

Catherine Rutland, dental spokesperson and head of professional support services at Simplyhealth Professionals, said, “We’re delighted to sponsor Boundaries For Life for a third season and promote health awareness and the links between oral health and general health. The initiative provides an incredibly important free service to a captive audience who may not have seen a health professional recently and be unaware of their current state of health. We’re excited to be joined by our highest number of dental volunteers to date from Simplyhealth Professionals’ network of member dentists, who are all keen to help check users for signs and risks of mouth cancer.”

Since its launch, Boundaries for Life has carried out almost 4,500 free health checks and identified many health concerns as well as several cases of suspected mouth cancer – potentially saving lives. In addition, at the end of each health check, every user is given a detailed health report and access to an online interactive dashboard, providing thousands of cricket fans and ground staff with invaluable information.

Dr Chet Trivedy said, “We’re looking forward to another cricket season with Simplyhealth Professionals and utilising the sport to reach as many people as possible. Through almost ten years’ experience of running Boundaries For Life, we’ve ensured that the health checks are easily accessible and provide instant feedback. The information we provide helps to guide users on any next steps that they should take regarding their oral or general health, such as visiting a health professional for further advice or treatment. It also encourages them to reassess lifestyle choices such as alcohol consumption, smoking and diet, which could potentially contribute to issues such as mouth cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

“Cricket is an ideal vehicle to discuss health, particularly as our key demographic for health checks are men aged 45 years and over, and those who might not be regularly visiting a dentist or GP. This target audience are thought to be increasingly vulnerable to a range of health conditions, and our health checks offer the opportunity to identify people who might be at risk of future health problems at an early stage.”

Not only does Boundaries for Life provide the means to help users to understand their current and future health, the initiative also has the additional benefit of collating valuable insights into the nation’s health. Data insights from 2018 discovered that 34 per cent of respondents were obese, 42 per cent had a raised BMI, and 70 per cent had a waist measurement that is considered to be medium or high risk for diabetes. Shockingly, almost half of all respondents (48 per cent) were at an increased risk of developing diabetes according to the Diabetes UK risk scoring system. Furthermore, one in four users had raised blood pressure, and 40 per cent had raised cholesterol.

Commenting on last year’s data analysis, Chet said, “We’re proud to have conducted almost 4,500 health checks over the past nine years and reached so many people, but these figures highlight that there is still a lot of work to do. 2019 is a big season for cricket with the UK hosting the Cricket World Cup and the Ashes, so we’re hoping for a big buzz around the sport and even more footfall to the Boundaries For Life gazebo.”

Boundaries For Life will be at the following fixtures this season: