Planning A Health Fair

Planning a health fair for your organization can be a challening task but using the information and recommendations below, will help eliminate some of the stress!

The first recommendation I can give in initiating a wellness or health fair is getting upper level management's support. An effective health fair will take financial resources for employee health screenings, health risk appraisals, follow-up consultations, and other supportive measures.

• Determine Your Budget--once you have the support, determine how much money you will be able to use towards the health fair. Identify your target population (employees only, dependents, retirees) and who you will include in your wellness fair. This is one of the most crucial steps in organizing this type of an event. Will you offer snacks or juice, incentives for participation, or any other programs? All important things to consider.

• Health Fair Committee--from your wellness program commitee be sure to recruit 4-5 people that will be your planning committee for your health fair. These individuals will help with event planning, marketing materials, schedule of events, etc. Meet at every 2 weeks in order to be sure everyone is following through on their duties. You will probably need to meet more frequently as the event gets closer.

• Request bids or quotes from local health fair vendors, health risk appraisal vendors, and other health care providers. Be SURE to communicate often with your vendors and send them a confirmation notice several weeks before your event to make sure they are planning on attending!

• Determine your timeline, event date, time, and location-allow yourself and your wellness committee at least 4-6 months of planning time. Trust me, you will need it! Depending on your target audience size, be sure to use a location large enough to accomodate large groups, vendor booths, and other stations you plan to have as part of your health fair.

Marketing Your Wellness Fair--Determing which marketing materials you will use to promote your event to educate employees about all of the important information (when, what, how, where, etc). Develop a timeline when you will begin sending out information via paycheck stubs, newsletters, or fliers. Use the what works best for other company events or announcements which will ensure proper communication. Be sure to inform employees if they will be receiving any wellness incentives or compensation for attending the event in advance.

Those are a few of my recommendations on planning a health fair for your organization. Offering these events is critical to the success of your program. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to plan accordingly.

Learn More About Planning A Health Fair from the CDC!

OTHER RELATED ARTICLES:

Implementing a Health Risk Appraisal

Employee Health Screenings

Sign up for a free wellness consultation

Wellness Resources I Recommend

Overcoming Wellness Program Challenges

Learn About Starting Your Own Wellness Program

Important Components for Employee Wellness Programs

Return to Home Page from Planning A Health Fair