Health fairs and preventive screenings: saving Alaskans one test at time.

• Author: Anderson, Tom
• Position: HEALTHCARE

Everyone in Alaska has been affected by disease. Whether or not someone has suffered from a malady like cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, it's a guarantee that everyone has a friend or family member who has experienced, and even succumbed, to illness.

As insurance rates and healthcare costs rise, the healthcare industry is looking for straightforward ways to apprise the public of risks and prevention. Lowering the rate of disease is a key component to demonstrable healthcare delivery.

Fortunately for our state, there are myriad practitioners, hospitals, and nonprofit health associations dedicating time and resources to educate Alaskans on the most successful ways to prevent illness.

One such way to inform the masses, while spurring consistent lifestyle change and prevention, is through participation in health fairs and public events during which testing and information exchange can occur. Despite Alaska's size and demographic diversity, the opportunities these fairs and screenings afford to spread a message of hope is changing the longevity landscape for prospective patients.

Alaska Health Fair

Alaska Health Fair (AHF), a nonprofit organization, offers organized, comprehensive health fairs with a variety of blood tests and preventive screenings. AHF has been promoting health fairs in the state for more than thirty-six years with a premise that education, screening, and wellness promotion will save lives.

"Our health fairs offer free health education, free screenings, and the most affordable comprehensive blood tests in Alaska. We deliver around one hundred health fairs annually statewide--in larger communities like Anchorage, Juneau, Fair banks, and Bethel, and also in around thirty smaller communities," says Executive Director Andrei Chakine. "We also deliver around twenty-five worksite health fairs for big and small employers from a variety of industries: oil and gas, financial services, transportation, and nonprofits. No other state has a dedicated nonprofit like Alaska Health Fair to provide affordable blood tests, free health screenings, and free health education on important topics on such a grand scale. And it's all possible because of support from Alaska communities and organizations."

Chakine believes the AHF's efforts are making a big difference as fifteen thousand to twenty thousand people attend its events annually, and attendance numbers are growing as last spring and fall the organization added more than one thousand new clients.

One important question AHF continually seeks to answer is: Who attends its health fairs? Is it the prudent, health-conscious stalwart, the person already suffering from symptoms or pain, or perhaps someone who can't afford a medical examination?

AHF took a recent survey of attendees after they departed an event and generated insight on who participates in a health fair or screening and why:

* 95 percent of health fair attendees plan to follow up with a doctor if they learn of a health condition through screenings and tests received at AHF events.

* 59 percent report they have health insurance. An additional 23 percent are covered through Medicaid/Medicare.

* 89 percent report that after attending the health fair they gained a better understanding of ways to achieve healthier lifestyles and behaviors.

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