Geraint Jones
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
‘What’s Your Score?’ is designed to promote public health by integrating opportunistic health checks into local football clubs in South Wales. The project aims to raise awareness about conditions like high blood pressure, which is a leading cause of heart disease, strokes, and other severe long-term health issues. By establishing blood pressure checks and monitoring at football games, the initiative aims to identify individuals at risk of health conditions. This approach makes healthcare more accessible, especially for those who may not regularly visit health services.
The project will be aligned with existing public health initiatives and leverage partnerships with football clubs, community centres, and health organisations. It also seeks to complement current health programs like “FIT Bluebirds,” ensuring wider reach by capturing citizens outside their target demographic. Utilizing non-invasive health checks and digital tools for recording data, the project aims to normalize health conversations in social settings, reduce stigma around health monitoring, and encourage lifestyle changes to prevent future health issues. The program aligns with the prudent Healthcare principles by focusing on co-production, evidence-based care, and addressing the greatest healthcare needs.
By collaborating with football clubs, the project also aims to be sustainable by training community members as ‘champions’ to continue these initiatives in the long term. It is hoped that ‘What’s Your Score’ will enable patient empowerment, removing barriers to healthcare, and fostering better relations between the NHS and local communities.
