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Far from selling candy floss, a pride of Lions from around the greater Manawatū are saving lives.
The service club members do it in an opportunistic way, heading out in the 1982 Oxford caravan called Gobi to meet largely-rural communities wherever they gather for events.
And without fuss or much ado, they affably cajole men and women from all walks of life, gumboots not compulsory, to step on board for a free health check.
Originally set up by Feilding farmers Cushla and Dean Williamson four years ago, the GlobalHQ project was handed over to 34 District202D Lions clubs 18 months ago.
Chairperson of the My Free Health Check Committee and most-frequent GP on board is semi-retired Feilding doctor Warren Nicholls, complete with his annual practising certificate, insurance and membership of the College of GPs.
Working as a volunteer, as do the support crew and a roster of nurses and three other GPs, he leads “my glorious obsession” on a minimal budget of around $30,000 a year, all paid for by clubs, sponsors and occasional grants.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Dr Warren Nicholls is part of a team of Lions making it free and easy for people to get health checks.
He is both delighted and alarmed about the difference the free health checks make.
All up, about 1350 people have been through the caravan.
Of those, some 350 have been advised to visit their GP with sometimes urgent medical needs.
The doctor follows up with a phone call a couple of weeks later to check that they have made an appointment.
“People are really gob-smacked that we do that – that it’s free, and we really care.”
Nicholls said it was worrying to find one in four people needing medical assessment and treatment, especially as most of those people had considered themselves quite well.
“We have saved lives, we have changed many others,” he said.
The quick consultation covered blood pressure, pulse, blood glucose and cholesterol levels, checked weight and smoking status, and rounded out with a chat about “How are you going?”.
“We have found diabetics who are now on insulin, we have people who are not going to have strokes because their blood pressure is now under control.
“Some share a lot of worries.”
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Warren Nicholls carries out a finger test to measure pulse and oxygen levels.
He estimated the interventions had saved hundreds of thousands of health dollars, with the only taxpayer contributions so far coming as a one-off $10,000 grant from primary health organisation Think Hauora, and $20,000 from the Department of Internal Affairs.
One of the statistics he was pleased about was the turnaround in people’s attitudes towards looking after their health.
“What we know about farmers is that they are very good getting their John Deere serviced, but not themselves.”
More than half of the people they saw had not had a medical check for more than two years – some for more than five years.
“After coming through Glob, 98% say they will do it annually.”
Although not their main purpose, they are able to provide emergency care when necessary, having treated dehydration for example, and there is a defibrillator on board.
The Lions have been to 64 events in the past 18 months.
They were busy at the Central Districts Field Days, seeing 148 people over three days, from 44 different occupations and 13 ethnicities.
The most recent was to a craft fair at Tangimoana. They saw 25 people, and referred nine with worrying test results, depression, weight loss and a probable skin cancer.
The next is the cross-country event at Waituna West School on the September 8.
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