Guidelines to Set Up a Health Fair

A health fair is an event often held for employees or the community that allows health organizations to disseminate information to consumers. These events allow for partnership and collaboration among hospitals, nonprofit health agencies, recreation centers, schools and businesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as many community-based organizations provide tips and guidelines for setting up a successful health fair.

Planning and Goals

• Allow six months to one year for planning if possible for the best results, although smaller events can be planned in less time. Form a planning committee of members of your organization as well as partners who will be participating in the event. Set goals for what you wish to accomplish with the event. Brainstorm ideas for vendors and booths, determine how many people you want reach through attendance and select your target audience. Plan to evaluate your event by creating and administering a participant survey.

  Select a date, time and place for the event. Weekdays are ideal for employee groups. Weekends or evenings are ideal for the community. Choose to hold the event during morning hours if you plan to offer options such as fasting cholesterol screenings, or if your target audience is older adults who are likely retired. Host the event during lunch or evening hours when trying to reach those who have full-time jobs. Choose a large, open location such as a gymnasium or cafeteria that will allow the vendors plenty of room to set up and provide the participants with space to browse what is available.

Interactive Opportunities

• Provide activities that will engage participants while focusing on their health. Provide health screenings, such as glucose or cholesterol tests, blood pressure readings and height and weight measurements. Offer fitness testing, such as body fat analysis, cardiovascular endurance evaluations, flexibility testing or strength testing. Perform personality or mental health assessments using questionnaires and surveys. Ensure that each of these screenings or tests is follow-up with information and guidance about healthy and safe lifestyle habits.

Seminars

• Offer a health-related seminar during the lunch or evening hours if your event is taking place at this time. Enlist the help of doctors, nurses, dentists, nutritionists or personal trainers to provide a 30- to 40-minute presentation about health topics. Consider subjects that appeal most to your target audience, such as menopause, aging, eating for weight loss, new trends in fitness or bike safety. Allow time at the end of each seminar for participants to ask questions and engage in discussions.

Offer Incentives

• Encourage those organizations that are hosting booths at the event to hold drawings and offer prizes. This helps participants to become engaged in the subject matter being presented and they can benefit from the healthy services being provided. Examples of prizes may include a massage, a nutritional analysis, a personal training session, admission to an upcoming lecture or workshop or healthy cooking classes.