Award Report- Health and Wellness Fair
We at the Elbridge Free Library held our first-ever Health & Wellness Fair on Saturday, January 10, 2009 from 10 am to 1 pm! The event’s purpose was to increase participants’ knowledge of consumer health information resources, local healthcare providers, and services. We also hoped that the community would see the Elbridge Free Library as a consumer health information provider.
The Health & Wellness Fair included:
- Exhibits (Curves, GeneWize, Kinney Drugs, Licensed Massage Therapist Karen Sikorski, the Onondaga County Department of Aging & Youth, the Onondaga County Health Department, Wake Robin Farm, and Whole Me)
- Displays of the best consumer health information resources (MedlinePlus.gov and others)
- Dietary supplement presentation by Dr. Karin Kroeger
- Blood pressure checks by Nurse Roxy Sherman
- Yoga for Kids sessions, crafts, and other fun activities for children
- Vision screenings for children by the Lions Club
- Drawings for prizes donated by Kinney Drugs, the Skaneateles Community Center, and Subway
- Refreshments donated by Owen Orchards
We believe the Health & Wellness Fair was a success! On a cold, winter day, we had a solid turnout of 84 people (the village of Elbridge has a population 1,052 according to the U.S. Census). We received 19 evaluations, with respondents rating the event highly. Here are highlights from the evaluations:
- The majority of respondents (74%) rated the event as excellent (14 selected excellent, 5 selected good, 0 selected fair, and 0 selected poor).
- When asked if they learned anything new about health and wellness, area services, or the library at the event, 18 or 95% said yes. Respondents learned about a variety of topics: services for the aging, medication side effects, gene testing, sign language, massage therapy, dietary supplements, yoga techniques, blood pressure, exercise programs, etc.
- When asked how the event could be improved, respondents’ answers (6) varied: hold at a bigger facility, more information on exercise, exhibit on essential oils, more promotion, more presenters, integrate more children’s activities. Though these suggestions are helpful, no trends were noted.
- Additional comments from respondents included:
- Excellent!
- My children enjoyed the yoga.
- Great fair - well organized set up - wonderful - thank you!
- Well done!
- Loved the snacks.
- Great fair! Come again!
- Keep doing it!
Based on the above, we feel participants really benefited from the Health & Wellness Fair. We also had a lot of fun putting it together, and we are considering holding another one next year. We would like to thank the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for making this event possible!
Amanda Latreille- Elbridge Free Library. Elbridge, NY
