Health Fair Basics

August 30, 2010
Written by: Julie Bosche, Filed in: Corporate Wellness Programs

You’re no doubt already doing your part to encourage health and wellness in the workplace. Could you use a little assistance?

Organizing a health fair might be just the thing to help you spread awareness and get your more change-resistant staffers on board.

Because things like health screenings and routine checkups can be inconvenient to schedule and anxiety-provoking to undergo, many people let them slide.

The solution? Bring the appropriate screenings and health information they would get from their primary care physician to them, in their comfort zone.

They’re more likely to participate in an office-wide health fair than they might be to make a doctor’s appointment to test their cholesterol level, blood sugar, and blood pressure, get a flu shot, or find out what their body fat percentage is.

Prevention education is an important aspect of promoting workplace wellness, and you’ll find that the efforts you expend to organize a health fair will be rewarded by employees’ increased awareness and likelihood to act on what they learn about their health at the event.

Whether they choose to incorporate more physical activity into their daily schedules, think before they eat, or just make an appointment for a complete checkup with their doctor, the health fair has been successful.

Some ideas for your health fair:

Know what your employees need beyond the standard blood pressure test. Include community health experts that suit your employees’ needs. Think behavioral health organizations for stress-reduction ideas (massage therapy, anyone?) and local gyms to encourage physical activity, for example.

Offer free or reduced-cost flu vaccinations when the yearly vaccine is available.

Partner with other groups or organizations for help in organizing and funding the event. Find out if other businesses in your office complex would like to participate in the health fair.

Distribute plenty of health-related materials for your employees to collect and take home with them.

Have a nurse on hand to answer general health questions and discuss the results of screenings obtained at the health fair.