Brooke E. Talsania
Chelsea L. Wiener
| Brooke E. Talsania | Chelsea L. Wiener |
Brooke E. Talsania,Chelsea L. Wiener
Joan I. Gluch, Tatyana A. Straus
Division of Community Oral Health, Preventive & Restorative Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Introduction
In working with the Institute for the Development of African American Youth (IDAAY), we were made aware of their community’s need for dental care and oral health education. We set out to create a fun and engaging event that would target this population’s needs, including health education and screenings, access to resources, COVID education and vaccines, and information about specific conditions like hypertension and diabetes. This is how our health fair turned block party came to be. By including IDAAY, Miriam Medical Clinics, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, local vendors and health educators, and resources within the University of Pennsylvania community (Penn Nursing, Penn Medicine, Penn Dental), we were able to create a health fair in the community built by the community itself.
Methods
Planning a health fair from scratch is a big undertaking. As a confounding variable, limited resources exist to assist those wanting to take on such a challenge. After having successfully created, planned, and put on the First Annual North Philly Community Health Fair, we are using our knowledge and experiences to create a guide for others to do the same.
Results
We had hundreds of attendees, community members interested in learning more, over 30 COVID vaccinations administered, and many community relationships fostered due to the health fair and strengthened since because of it. Our guide serves to encourage and inspire others to get involved in their communities through similar events. In addition to providing action items for organizers, our guide also includes resources for how to handle the unexpected, drawing from our experiences.
Conclusion
As a new event, and the first we had executed, this health fair was a success for what we set out to do. Given the restrictions due to COVID, we were limited to mostly distributing educational materials without any clinical follow-up. Still, much information was shared, and attendees had a great time. This guide will allow others to follow in the same footsteps.