My Boss Just Told Me to Organize a Health Fair … How Do I Do That?

If you’re an HR rep who just got out of a marathon meeting with your team on all the new changes to the company insurance policy, this article is for you. Chances are, your insurance provider won’t be reducing any health and wellness promotion requirements and incentives.

If anything, you’re being asked to do more than ever to plug your staff into healthcare resources to make sure those insurance premiums remain under control.

Where do you start?

Step 1: Mark your calendar for available health fair dates.

Health fairs make it easy to bring health to the forefront of your organization’s culture. All you need to know in this first step is that if you want your people to think about their healthcare needs, you will need to bring resources to them. What resources, you ask? We’ll get to that.

For now, just pick some dates when you don’t have any major conflicts such as seminars, conferences or lots of vacations. That’s a great start.

Step 2: Let’s talk data.

What information does your health insurance provider make available to you concerning claims? We’re not talking about information that identifies individuals, just aggregate data on frequent diagnoses among your staff.

Many of our clients find a high frequency of diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, but your data may show different trends such as incidences of skin cancer, stroke, damaged hearing or accidents caused by poor vision. These data will help you decide what screenings to include in your health fair. 

Step 3: Let’s talk logistics.

How many employees do you have? What spaces do you have available? These first two questions help us determine how long the fair will take. 200 employees to be screened in a break room that accommodates 6 employees at a time is going to take a lot longer than, say, 20 employees in a gymnasium.

We also need to know about, noise level, lighting and the availability of outlets. We come on site to take a look at the space at this stage and determine what basic furniture is available and what we need to bring. For example, we have temporary barriers to provide privacy for participants.

Step 4: Promote!

To help you get the word to your staff about the health fair we supply you with posters advertising the event. Since it might not be enough to try to sell your staff on the benefits of routine screenings (how could anyone find that boring??), door prizes might do the trick!

The best prizes are those that promote active living such as outdoor games and toys, gift cards for health supplements like B12 shots or healthy foods like Subway. Bicycles tend to get everyone’s attention, which is why we often bring them in for a raffle. VISA cards are good too; the point is, get people there and participating! If nothing else, they’ll at least enjoy the snacks we provide afterward.

Step 5: Mark the calendar again for follow ups.

Health fairs bring awareness to conditions that put your staff at risk, but only for one day. That’s why health fairs with Cover-Tek include monthly basic screenings for the 11 months following the big day. This way, every participant will receive ongoing information on their health status.

This will help you achieve your most important goal: encouraging employees to go to their doctor when screenings first indicate warning signs, not long after symptoms of life-threatening conditions appear.

Easy Peasy.

Look, it’s easy when you’re talking to people who have done it a million times. If it looks like a big task ahead, don’t worry about it. Cover-Tek will see you through every step of the way!

Getting started is just a click away.