Health fair
Health fairs offer community screenings and wellness education.
A health fair is an educational and interactive event designed for outreach, providing basic preventive medicine and medical screening to people in the community or employees at work in conjunction with workplace wellness. It can also serve as a public health intervention. Health fairs are typically offered in community settings, on-site at corporations, work sites, churches, or schools, and consist of a variety of vendors and exhibitors that educate on aspects of health, wellness, fitness, and lifestyle improvements.
Quick Facts
- Example health fair
- Florida Keys Health Fairs
- Typical duration
- one-day event
- Common screenings
- cholesterol testing, blood pressure screenings
Facts from the source article.
Critics
Health fairs sometimes offer tests that are not helpful and can even be risky. While basic checks like weight and blood pressure are fine for everyone, other tests, such as vascular ultrasound, are meant only for people with specific health risks. When given to the general public, these tests can produce false positives, leading to costly and dangerous follow-ups that may cause strokes or death. Many doctors believe it is wrong for hospitals and doctors to work with commercial testing companies that use misleading marketing. One example is HealthFair, a for-profit business that sells a package of six heart and blood vessel tests—including echocardiogram, carotid artery ultrasound, and a hardening of the arteries test—for $179. In 2014, Public Citizen asked 20 hospitals to stop working with HealthFair, calling its community screening programs unethical and more harmful than beneficial, based on peer-reviewed research. HealthFair’s chief operating officer argued that the company empowers consumers to make private choices with their doctors, free from government control.
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