Boundaries for Life is an initiative aimed at promoting health awareness through high-profile cricket events – and is the only free health screening that includes an assessment for mouth cancer.
Founded in 2010, by Dr Chet Trivedy, a dual-qualified dentist and medic with an interest in emergency medicine and dental emergencies, Boundaries for Life offers free health screenings at major cricket fixtures throughout the UK, and is supported by the European Health Stadia Network.
Catherine Rutland, head of professional support services at Simplyhealth Professionals, said, “The Boundaries for Life programme crosses the barriers between oral health and general health. Our support of the programme goes beyond just a financial investment. We are encouraging our member dentists to get actively involved and be part of the dental team at the cricket matches, and play a part in helping people understand the importance of looking after their health.”
With a team comprising dentists, doctors, nurses, medical students and dementia specialists, the free health checks take no more than 15 minutes and are offered to spectators and ground staff. The checks include blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar (diabetes), dental (mouth cancer), obesity and dementia advice.
The team have already attended two cricket matches with the support of member dentists from Simplyhealth Professionals and carried out a number of dental checks. These matches were at Headingly Stadium on May 24 and the Ageas Bowl on May 27.
Dr Chet Trivedy said, “Using cricket as a vehicle to discuss health is ideal, particularly as our key aim is to target men aged 35 years and over. Our health promotion strategy is to target people who might otherwise not access regular health checks. Many of these are cited by Public Health England to be particularly vulnerable to a range of health conditions; the format and duration of a match makes the health screenings we offer very accessible – without missing the sporting action.”
Since its launch, Boundaries for Life has carried out 2,000 free health checks and diagnosed nine cases of suspected mouth cancer, or pre-cancer, and given many hundreds of cricket fans specialist advice on how to improve oral and personal health.
The current Boundaries for Life fixtures are:
|
Match |
Venue |
Date |
|
Royal London One Day Cup Final |
Lord’s, London |
Saturday, July 1 |
|
England vs South Africa Test |
Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester |
Sunday, August 6 |
|
England vs West Indies Test |
Edgbaston, Birmingham |
Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20 |
For more information, visit http://boundariesforlife.co.uk/