15 March 2010
Keeping healthy as you get older isn’t always as easy as it seems, which is why one of the top doctors at St Helier, Sutton and Epsom hospitals is supporting a new NHS service to help adults over 40 improve their quality of life.
NHS MidLifeCheck is a free and confidential online service, which gives people health advice, tailored specifically to their own needs.
After completing a simple multiple choice survey, NHS MidLifeCheck offers people a range of simple steps they can take to improve their lifestyle. The service covers a number of topics including smoking, healthy eating, alcohol, physical activity and emotional wellbeing. And if you need further support to get healthier, the website contains full details of who to contact and where.
Dr Guan Lim is in charge of the Trust’s general medicine and care of the elderly teams. He said: "NHS MidLifeCheck is a great way of getting individual health advice quickly and easily. If you want to find out how healthy you are and what you can do to improve your quality of life, I would definitely recommend logging on.
"The NHS is here to help people whenever they need it, but it’s important that local people are looking after themselves too. You know what they say - prevention is better than a cure."
The NHS MidLifeCheck website was launched by the Department of Health in February and in its first week alone, 15,000 people visited the site. People visiting the site can also sign up for a free motivational message programme, which can be sent to them via email, text or post.
And it’s not just adults in their 40s who can benefit from this type of service - NHS MidLifeCheck is one of three NHS LifeCheck services. NHS Teen LifeCheck has been available since June 2009 and for parents and carers of 5 - 8 month old babies, there’s Baby LifeCheck. For more information about any of these services, visit www.nhs.uk/lifecheckers.
