FOR EXPERT RESEARCHER ONLY !!

Latinos living in the United States account for one-third of the uninsured population and face numerous cultural, linguistic, and financial barriers to accessing health care services. Community health fairs have been developed to address the unmet need for no- and low-cost services that target prevention and education among underserved communities (Murray, Liang, Barnack-Tavlaris, & Navarro, 2015). The Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade is committed to building a consensus within the Miami-Dade health community concerning efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and chronic disease prevention, create a supportive policy environment and enhance health care information. Consortium initiatives are guided by the goals and objectives established by Healthy People 2020. The Consortium uses a prevention-based community planning approach to improve health by offering community health fairs that provide a comprehensive educational experience to bring awareness to the benefits of healthy lifestyles and health promoting environments and to increase the percentage of adults and children who are at a healthy weight (The Florida Department of Health, 2014). I chose to attend one of these health fairs due to the high rate of obesity in the community, especially the children. The health fair was tailored to this community by using existing data and assessments of the community to identify assets that support healthy living. This event provided education to Latino parents about childhood obesity, and the importance of healthy eating and physical activity, in a culturally sensitive way.

The rate of obesity and overweight in Miami-Dade county adults is 67.4%. Approximately 13% of high-school students are obese and only 12% attend daily physical-education classes at school, which is lower than the state rate of 44%. Poor diet and physical inactivity contribute to the obesity problem. Only 22.1% of adults in the county meet the Federal government's guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption, and 24.5% of the adult population reported no physical activity in the last 30 days (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). A major factor causing higher rates of obesity is the fact that Latino communities experience higher rates of hunger and food insecurity, limited access to safe places to be physically active and targeted marketing of less nutritious foods (stateofebesity.org, n.d); as it is the case in the community I chose to survey. Health fairs are beneficial for all stakeholders. Many individuals in this community have limited access to care. Health fairs can be powerful outreach activities at which health care workers can help reduce health disparities and improve access to relevant screening and preventive care. For nurses, attending health fairs is an excellent way to engage underserved communities in caring for their health. These type of events offer an opportunity to increase awareness and spark conversation that could foster deeper contemplation and even lifestyle change long after the health fair.

According to The University of Florida Health, when general health concerns are addressed in a group setting, individuals may be comforted by knowing others in the group share the same concerns that they do; This can be an effective tool for us physicians in successful health promotion. Several recent studies observed that nearly half of health fair participants in underserved and vulnerable communities do not have primary care health professionals or health insurance. For them, the immunizations, hypertension and blood glucose screenings and education about diet and lifestyle may be the only such services they receive (Ezeonwu & Berkowitz, 2014). A more recent 2011 study on blood pressure screenings at community health fairs, published in the Journal of Community Nursing, looked at outreach on hypertension. The article reported “nurse-operated health fairs, crafted to identify those with high BP readings, are promising as a simple and effective means in motivating individuals to seek follow-up care.” (Burron & Chapman, 2011). Targeting the challenges that stem from neighborhoods, schools, workplaces that make it difficult to access healthy affordable foods and be physically active is the first step in providing underserved communities with the basic preventive services.

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