Business Health Matters

Gym and leisure centre staff across Lancashire will be trained to deliver health screenings that check both physical and mental wellbeing in the workplace. This matters because most workplace health initiatives focus on physical health alone, or require expensive clinical staff to deliver them. By training existing fitness professionals—who already work with the public on exercise and lifestyle—the project creates a low-cost, scalable model for reaching people who might never visit a GP for a health check. The screening tool, developed by UCLan’s medical school, covers mental health alongside blood pressure, weight, and activity levels, addressing a gap in how workplace wellness programmes typically operate. If successful, the model could be adopted by leisure trusts and gym chains across the UK, turning thousands of fitness staff into a frontline workforce for early detection of conditions like hypertension, anxiety, and depression. Employees receive a personalised wellbeing plan and ongoing support to make lasting changes—more exercise, better mental health habits—without needing to navigate the NHS. The project is applied, not fundamental science: it tests whether a real-world delivery system works, with the aim of creating a replicable blueprint for other regions.