Is anyone on the forum involved in organizing a wellness fair for seniors? I am working on one for the spring and would love suggestions on how you organized the event; what stations did you include?; any activities,; ect! Any input would be appreciated.
Sherry - do you have a location picked out? Is it a part of larger event or will it be a stand-alone event?
Beth,
I am doing this wellness event in conjunction with local YMCA who has an “arena” where we will set up the fair. The Y representative is reaching out to other “vendors” for participation (local Parkinson’s Association, etc). The original idea was mine and I approached a member of a Falls Task Force (who works for the YMCA) of which I am a part of to set this up. I am using the STEADi as a guide but would love any input from others who have done something similar in the past.
Sherry
Sherry I have done the same. I think STEADI is a great idea. I also have a handout we made that I give them to take home that has their results and what they mean. I cannot find it for the life of me right now but I know I have a hard copy in my office and can send next week. - snow day today. Please email jlvincenzo@uams.edu if interested.
My one suggestion would be to advertise in your local newspaper. When I held an event, I was told that unless it’s in the newspaper, people of that generation don’t think it is for real.
Also, if you can arrange to have a pharmacist there, that would be great. It’s part of the STEADI, of course, and my participants loved having that resource available to them.
Good luck with your event.
I have something similar to this planned for my CCRC. We already do a separate age in place program that has balance as a component so we don’t check that as part of our event. However here are the stations that I have planned:
BMI assessment
Postural alignment assessment via tragus to wall or occipital to wall distance
BP/pulse ox assessment
SF -36 assessment
And you could hand out the ACSM flyers on general exercise guidelines and protein consumption too.
Hope that helps!
Pete
If you’re still looking for advice, I’m happy to help. I took the APTA Credentialing course for balance and falls and the STEADI is definitely a good place to start. I also organized a Fall Prevention Health Fair for a major hospital system in my area and a smaller version for a senior center. Email me if you want to chat further: kristina@prosperptnc.com
The suggestions above so far are great! Definitely would incorporate a pharmacist, MD, RN or NP, neuropsychologist, dietician, audiology, vision specialist, someone to talk about proper footwear, etc.
Everyone likes to know their numbers so doing assessments/screenings and giving them their results on a report card is a great item to take home and maybe they will share with their doctor. You could include age based norms on the form so they can see how they compare to their peers. A little competition just might be the motivator to get them taking physical activity guidelines seriously! 