Health fairs as part of employee wellness programs

A health fair can be a highly effective way to promote the employee wellness program at your company. This is also a great way to let employees know what the wellness program can offer them. In addition, a health fair can communicate a new awareness and education, about how to make healthier choices and improve your lifestyle. Best of all this can be done in a fun, and festive way, that allows employees to enjoy themselves while still learning. Finally a health fair will be a great venue, for bringing in health resources, for employees to take advantage of. While heath fairs can be a way to promote healthier behaviors and inspire employees, it can also lead to more interest in making healthier choices, while offering up current health information, that is preventive in nature.

If you want to have a health fair as part of your employee wellness program, the first step is making sure that you a purpose and a focus. You may want to go over the wellness surveys that employees have provided, to get an idea of the topics that employees will be most interested in.

Health fairs are also a great venue to gain information on the following areas:

• About health insurance information


• Cholesterol, blood pressure and other routine health screenings


• Samples of healthy food items


• Displays by local community groups


• Services that are provided by local fitness businesses

When you are planning this kind of a fair, there are several aspects that you should consider. However, one of the most important is where you will hold the health fair. You should ask yourself the following questions-

• Will the fair be held indoors or outside?


• If the fair will be held outdoors, what is my backup plan, should the weather change?


• How far ahead do I need to book my chosen location? How much will it cost?


• Will anyone who is disabled be able to easily access the fair location?


• Will I have a place to put promotion posters or banners?


• Does my chosen location have electrical outlets?


• How near is my business, to the chosen location?


• Will there be restrooms that are accessible to all participants?


• Will there be enough parking or public transportation to reach my chosen location?


• Do I need insurance for my health fair location?


• Is my chosen location large enough? Will I have adequate space for both the employee who will be attending and the vendors?


• What supplies will I need to provide to the vendors?

Once you have decided and secured your location, it can be helpful to map out a layout. This will also be helpful for creating map, for those attending.

The next step is to determine what your budget will be for the health fair. Like everything else within the employee health program, you will need to carefully budget your dollars for the biggest impact. After determining how much you can spend, the following questions can help you determine if you are spending wisely-

• Do you have the money in the employee wellness program budget, or will you need to have a fund raiser to help offset the cost?


• Are there any businesses in your community who would be willing to make donations to help offset the costs?


• Can you staff your health fair, with volunteers?

You should keep in mind that if you plan to sell refreshments at the health fair, you will need to get the correct permits ahead of time, along with any permission needed from the owner of the site. This should be a part of the planning when you are deciding what vendors will attend and exactly what they will be doing.