HEALTH FAIR RESOURCES
If you are coordinating a health fair these ideas may help you get started. The amount
of time you should spend planning your health fair will depend on the size and type of
health fair you want to have. Approximately 2-3 months is an appropriate length of time
to organize your fair.
How to Plan a Health Fair
Set Up a Planning Committee
Decide on the Theme
Decide on Your Target Audience
Set Date, Time and Location
Arrange Displays and Topics
Invite Resources People
Arrange for Donations, Prizes and Food
Promotion of the Health Fair
Day of the Fair
Evaluation
View helpful Health Fair Websites by Category
View helpful Local / County Resources
Set Up a Planning Committee
Two or more people should be designated to do the planning in conjunction with others
who will be involved during the fair. It is necessary to clearly establish the
responsibilities of people within the committee. For example possible members might
include school staff, teachers, support staff, school nurse, food service director,
PTO/PTA members and community members. Back to Top
Decide On the Theme
Your health fair needs to have a theme or focus. This may be to promote Public Health,
or it may be may be a more specific health theme.. Here are a few ideas. Fall Fitness
Fiesta, Spring Fling, Autumn Tune-up, Fall into Winter, Holiday Happenings, Wellness
Roundup, Build a Healthy Foundation, Planting the Seeds of Wellness, Summer Safety,
Nutrition, Wellness Scavenger Hunt. If your targeted audience is children giving stations
creative and interesting names will increase participation. Back to Top
Decide on Your Targeted Audience
Is your targeted audience students (what age level) or will the audience be
families/parents? Perhaps your health fair is for the community. These are important
decisions the committee will need to make. Back to Top
Set Date, Time and Location
You need to decide when you want to hold the fair. Specifically, what time of year, what
day of the week and what time of day. You need to consider your target audience. It is
necessary to consider dates and times which make your fair easy for people to attend.
For instance, daytime hours are not always good for working people, but may be great
for seniors, or school age children. Evenings are often good for families and people who
work during the day.
It is also important to decide on location early, since places such as recreation facilities
are often booked well in advance Most communities will have school or organizations
that would be willing to provide space for a health or wellness fair at no charge.
Consider your target group when deciding on location, since some places are not easily
accessible for people of all ages and those with physical disabilities. The location needs
to be large enough to accommodate the displays. Tables must be available for the
displays, as well as appropriate lighting and enough electrical outlets at the site. Be sure
to allow adequate space so the people can move easily around the displays. Ensure
that there is enough parking at the location and find out if there is anyone like a
custodian who will be available at the site. Back to Top
Arrange Displays and Topics
The next step is to decide what type of displays you will have and the topics for each
display. For example, if you are having a Heart Health Fair, then you will want to have
displays on all the different risk factors for heart disease such as smoking, high blood
pressure, weight and inactivity. You may choose to have a display explaining the heart
and heart disease and give specific statistics on the incidence of heart disease in your
local area.
You will need to decide on how many displays and how much space each one needs. It
is wise to book any equipment you may need in advance. It is also beneficial to create
displays that are very eye catching and colorful, as well as easy to understand. Reading
level is an important consideration when preparing a display for a particular group of
people. One or two messages should be the focus for a display, instead of
overwhelming the audience with an abundance of information. It is often helpful if a
display allows the participant to be actively involved, instead of simply reading
information. For example, a quiz board allows people to answer questions where the
correct answer will light up. Back to Top
Invite Resource People
Invite resource people to attend or possibly set up a display from their own organization.
The resource people can be available to answer questions on prevention, treatment or
education as related to their areas of expertise. It is wise to contact people as early as
possible. Once you have decided on a theme, displays, topics, and resource people,
then record the number of displays for the fair and make sure you have a contact
person for each display.
Contact all people and organizations (in writing) who will be participating to confirm the
date, time, location and theme or focus for the fair. Be sure to let them know when they
can set up their display. Contact them 2 weeks prior to the fair to confirm their
involvement. Back to Top
Arrange for Donations, Prizes and Food
Some organizations may donate some of their products for a worthwhile event. For
example, local grocery stores may donate some healthy snacks for a Heart Health Fair.
If there are any funds available it may be worth while to purchase a few door prizes for
participants. For example, at a Heart Health Fair, heart healthy cookbooks are a good
prize and/or a gift certificate to a local athletic shop. Remember it never hurts to ask for
donations, you might be surprised at what people will donate. Back to Top
Promotion of the Health Fair
The publicity for your health fair is very important. It is necessary to consider the most
likely ways that your target audience could hear about the fair. Poster and flyers can be
made and put up in many local establishments within a week of the event. If you are
planning to open the health fair to parents and the community you might want to send
flyers home with the school students and put some posters around the community.
It is always wise to send specific invitations to particular groups or individuals you would
like to see attend the fair. Be sure to promote the fun and interactive exhibits to draws a
larger crowd. The first year that Health/Wellness Fair is held the attendance may be
lower than in subsequent years. Back to Top
Day of the Fair
There are many things you should remember to bring or send in advance. This includes
the display panels, posters, logos and banners that you may need. Determine what
audio-visual equipment you will need. For a Heart Health Fair, you may need blood
pressure cuffs and stethoscopes. Ensure that there are sufficient numbers of tables
available at your site in advance. Exhibitors should have pamphlets and information
available; however do not leave large quantities on display. This encourages people to
take one even though it may be thrown away. It is better to stimulate conversation and
determine whether a participant would like the information.
You may also need scissors, tape, markers, extension cords, pens & pencils and paper
to cover the tables if needed. The day of the fair allow adequate time to set up.
Designate a committee person to be in charge of the equipment, one to be the host and
one to handle the registration area. Back to Top
Evaluation
You want to determine whether your fair was a success or not. Decide how you will
evaluate the Health/ Wellness Fair. It may be helpful to record any comments or
suggestions of people at the fair or you may wish to give participants a short
questionnaire. A short report should be written to summarize the event. This may be
very helpful when it comes to planning another fair or similar event.
Send out thank you notes to the organizations and individuals who participated and also
to those who made donations. It is also nice to send a note of thanks to the people who
assisted in planning the event.
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Provided by: The Coordinated School Health Council
We hope this information will be helpful and we encourage your comments and
suggestions. Please send those to Martha Judson
Task Group:
Martha Judson RN, MS—Chairperson
Consultant UNH Cooperative Extension
Nutrition Connections Program
Changing the Scene Project Manager
53 Hampton Road,
Exeter, NH 03833
603.778.8824
Angela Sheppard MD
Education Consultant, School Health Services
Office of School Health
NH Department of Education
101 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301
603.271.3891
Regina Flynn
Health Promotion Advisor
NH DHHS
29 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03301
603.271.4623
Susan Morrison, M.Ed.
Health Promotion Advisor
NH Div. of Public Health Services
Tobacco Prevention & Control
29 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03301
603.271.6684