Review of a health fair screening program in mid-michigan

Abstract

Using sociodemographic data and findings from an evaluation survey, a Mid-Michigan health fair screening program is reviewed over a seven year period (1981-1987). Most participants were older adults, and nearly two-thirds were women. Very few participants named the media as a reason for attending the health fairs at which the screenings were given. Many had seen a physician within the past two years, yet very few reported that they had had a complete check-up. The implications of these findings and a rationale for health fairs as a mechanism for screening are discussed.

What do we know about who does and does not attend general health checks? Findings from a narrative scoping review

“…Studies consistently indicate that males are less likely to engage with health checks or screening and to endorse periodic health examinations than females [20-28]. This difference in rates of non-attendance between males and females ranged from 8% to 19% in those invited for a health check at General Practice [21,23,24].…”

“…This difference in rates of non-attendance between males and females ranged from 8% to 19% in those invited for a health check at General Practice [21,23,24]. In community based drop-in sessions, women were more likely to self-present than males, with the proportion of attenders at least 60-65% female [20,22]. Additionally, 11% of men compared to 6% of women did not endorse periodic health examinations [28].…”

“…In general, attenders at health checks are older than non-attenders [20-23,25,31-35], although some studies found no association between age and attendance [29,30,36-39]. In many cases the demographics of engagers were dependent on the targeting strategy of the intervention; for example where the service was only offered to a particular age group.…”

“…Others are simply interested in their health, seek confirmation of a previous reading/monitor an existing condition or are worried well [20,22,45]. Those who do not present may have no perceived need for a health check: they may feel healthy or have an absence of symptoms [27,33,51,52], are already in contact with the health service [27,33,41,51,53], or have recently had a health check [27,51,54].…”

The Use of Health Fairs in Health Promotion

“…[14][15][16] A few authors attempted to quantitatively evaluate the behavioral and health status effects of health fairs. [17][18][19] One group of authors did a fairly credible job of following up on the health behavior of health fair participants. 20 Their collective findings provide some sense of the potential value of a health fair as a health promotion intervention strategy.…”