View Article

back to Search Results

800 attend Hispanic Health Council Health Fair

On Aug. 6, 2009, the Hispanic Health Council hosted its 18th annual health fair. For some of the 800 adults and children who attended, it's the only opportunity they have to receive vital preventive health care and information.

The fair takes place in Hartford's South Green Park and in the Hispanic Health Council’s four-story building nearby at 175 Main St.

While providing vital health services to the community, it also acts as a measure of whether the council's policies and programs are meeting community needs.

 More than 70 community groups offered information from tent-shaded tables on such topics as housing, fire safety, health insurance and elderly services. In the park’s grassy center court, children made paper flowers, played ring-toss and raced in sacks. There were also Wii virtual sports games.

There were martial arts demonstrations, music and children's Latin dance on stage in the park, not to mention salsa lessons.

Inside the HHC’s building and beneath tents in the parking lot, there were free health screenings for sickle cell disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol, breast and prostate cancer, vision, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.

The theme of the 2009 fair was "Prevention" and information was given out on preconception planning, diabetes and the H1N1 virus also know as swine flu in the form of Health Promotion Messages.

A major sponsor of the fair,  the NIH-funded Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos (CEHDL), is a research partnership with the HHC, the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital. CEHDL collected socio-demographic information from 500 adults who attended the fair and distributed surveys to providers, screeners, Hispanic Health Council staff members and a small number of community participants. The data will be analyzed to give the HHC a clearer picture of the community its programs reach and whether they need to be adjusted.

Satisfaction surveys were conducted with 120 participants, with electronic surveys sent to screeners, providers and staff. The results are being analyzed by CEHDL staff.