karisa deculus kpha 2011 annual meeting and fall conference breakout session 1 september 21, 2011

Health Fairs as a Community Outreach Tool

Karisa DeculusKPHA 2011 Annual Meeting and Fall ConferenceBreakout Session 1September 21, 2011

Project Objectives

Organize and implement a health fair for low-income urban women utilizing the services of a Kansas City non-profit organization

Based on the health fair results, assess health fairs as an avenue for reaching this group of women

Conduct a qualitative assessment of health fairs based on input from experienced health professionals

Presentation Overview

Background Project Overview About the Agency Methods Results of Health

Fair Event Results of Health

Care Provider Interviews

Discussion Conclusions

How Urban Living Affects Health Brief history of

urban health Features of urban

environments Psychosocial

features of urban areas

Health care access issues for urban areas

Urban Life and Health

Gender-specific economic disparities

Features of urban health systems

Health outreach to disadvantaged communities Health fairs

Health Fairs

Originate from screening efforts by health clinics in the 1940s

Advocate a general idea of “health” Target specific populations or health

topics Examples: children’s health, osteopathic

medicine, elder health

Why Do a Health Fair for this Project?

Reach the public beyond costly interventions

Provide education on health awareness and disease prevention Important in underserved communities

Foster a sense of partnership between the community and health professionals

The Research Question

Are health fairs truly effective as a community

outreach tool?

The Project Site

Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Inc. Armourdale, Kansas

City, KS Serves a diverse,

low-income population Utilities assistance Hunger relief Nutrition classes

Methods

Project selection Planning the fair

Health education resources Surveys Health measures

Implementing the fair Evaluating the fair

Structured interviews

Planning the Event

Non-profits in the Kansas City metro area

Recruited services relevant to women’s health

Of 26 organizations contacted, 16 participated in the event

Recruited volunteers to assist with the event

Survey Development

Questions were modified from validated survey instruments

Assessed demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial indicators of health

Also gathered needs assessment responses for Cross-Lines services

Health Measures

Exhaled carbon monoxide levels

Height Weight Body Mass Index

(BMI) Blood glucose

levels Blood pressure

Implementing the Event

The Sisters Helping Sisters Health Fair was held on December 11, 2010 at the Cross-Lines Community Annex (food kitchen)

We offered health information and health screenings in English and Spanish

We also offered kids’ entertainment

Event Floor Plan

Images from the Event

Results of the Fair

Attendance: 10 women Some descriptive statistics:

Mean age: 64.1 years Mean BMI: 35.3 (±4.7) Income <$1000/month = 4/8 (50.0%) Number of participants expressing high

chronic stress about money for family needs = 3/8 (37.5%)

Event Feedback

15 service providers, 4 volunteers, and 8 attendees gave feedback

Feedback was positive Service providers suggested having the

health fair in warmer months and working with larger community events

Volunteers welcomed the opportunity to contribute their time for this community event

Attendees appreciated the variety of services and health information available at the event

Second Stage of the Project

I put a great deal of effort into arranging resources for this event. 151 hours of work,

extensive contacts with local organizations

Along with quantitative data from the event, qualitative data on health fairs will inform development of another event.

Health Care Provider Interviews I conducted interviews

with local health professionals to determine the usefulness of health fairs for community outreach. I developed a set of

questions based on a public health model.

The intent of this model was to ensure project accountability and critical evaluation of the process.

Planning

ImplementingEvaluating

Interviewees

KUMC Faculty Dr. Christine Daley▪ Staff: Ms. Baljit Kaur

Dr. Ana Paula Cupertino▪ Staff: Ms. Natalia Suarez

Dr. Allen Greiner Johnson County, KS, Health

Department Ms. Barbara Mitchell

Sample Interview Questions What has your experience been with

health fairs? What are the keys to having a successful

health fair? What are major barriers that you’ve

encountered in using health fairs for community outreach?

How can health fairs be useful for community outreach?

What are the limitations of health fairs?

Results of Interviews

Three major themes Partnership and

collaboration Tailoring services to

the target community

Follow-up issues after the event

Partnership and Collaboration

COMPONENTS

Collaborating with stakeholders

Collaborating with the community

SAMPLE QUOTE

“I think a cross-sectional intervention, such as I’m going to do a health fair, a one-point intervention; they're less likely to be successful. You need to be embedded into a bigger mission, you know. A health fair is just one component.”

Tailoring Services to the Community

COMPONENTS

Convenience of events

Cultural and linguistic competence

Targeted advertising and incentives

Avoidance of personal or institutional agendas

SAMPLE QUOTE

“Put together a team, but make sure this team is culturally and linguistically aware of their target population. Say you're going to do a health fair for Latinos, have Latinos on your team. Have Spanish-speaking people on your team. That would be number one. Have a culturally appropriate team.”

Follow-up and Evaluation Issues After the Event

COMPONENTS

Inaccurate participant information

Difficulty in contacting members of mobile populations

Adding patients to an already overburdened system

SAMPLE QUOTE

“Be realistic. Know who your target audience is, how many people you’re expecting. Of course we all want to offer a thousand things, but be realistic and know. It’s better to offer, I mean this is just me. Better to offer something small but super successful over something huge that's a disaster.”

Discussion

Evaluation of the health fair literature

Evaluation of the health fair event

Health Fair Literature

Many articles describe the planning process Subsequent lack of emphasis on event

evaluation More recent articles emphasize

evaluation of events Problem: no standardized evaluation

protocols Evaluation differs by authors’ intent

Verdict on health fairs as community outreach Useful, but limitations should be

acknowledged

Evaluation of the Event

Positive aspects Successfully organized and managed

event resources Offered incentives Tailored services to those in which the

community was interested Improvements Needed

Promotion and advertising Collaboration with a larger event Follow-up measures

Conclusions

More work should be done to ensure that another health fair event reaches the desired audience. They are useful for distributing health information in a

low-pressure setting. Health fairs are just one component of community

outreach. For future events, special attention should be

given to following up with participants. Develop novel approaches to addressing resources

and communication issues. This is essential to determining whether a given event

is worth the cost and effort put into it.

Acknowledgements

KUMC staff Dr. Nikki Nollen Dr. Megha Ramaswamy Dr. Kim Kimminau

Cross-Lines staff Ms. Lindsey Wilson Ms. Roberta Lindbeck

Interviewees Event volunteers and

providers The women who

attended the event Colleagues and friends