Team HarnettHealth Fairs are in the books and now....for some reflections.
We were so proud of how both of our fairs turned out. Tensions were high the morning of our first health fair in Lillington at the Carlie C’s. I was so nervous about how everything was going to turn out. We knew we had a lot of great information to share and the best intentions, but we weren’t sure how it would all end up. I worried about how the community would perceive us. I was worried we would overwhelm them with information or perhaps face hurdles we had not anticipated.
We had gathered all of our well-planned posters, free/fun giveaways, samples, and had coordinated with Kate for equipment like tables, table cloths, and tents in hopes to draw more attention to our health fairs. Not knowing how the shoppers of the grocery store would perceive a bunch of Campbell Students manning a station of overwhelming health information, we wanted to present ourselves with the utmost professionalism, but in an approachable, amiable, and fun atmosphere.
I am pleased to say that the health fairs were super successful. We set up shop around 9 AM and closed up around 3 PM each day so we had a solid amount of time and waves of community members coming in and out to check out what we had to offer. In hindsight, we would work in the future to provide a more effective area to get more people to approach our tents. At the second fair, we were kind of offset and didn’t have as much success in funneling people over because we were a little too far from the store’s entrance. It was definitely a good call to have fun/free giveaways like samples and a raffled prize giveaway to help draw people over. Once people were in front of our tables, it felt easy to talk to them about what we were doing here with this fair and what type of information we wanted to share specific to the health care needs of their own county.
I would say we were received very warmly overall. The demographics of people who circulated both our fairs, in Lillington and then Erwin, ranged from young kids with their parents to elderly adults in the latter years of retirement. There were a good deal of white and black community members, but not many Hispanic, Asian, or other minority groups. I was definitely reminded of the lower income environment we were situated in within the first few moments of opening up our fair. When I asked one older woman to write down her name and email to be eligible for our free prize that would be raffled, she responded with, “Honey, but I don’t have an email. I don’t have a computer.” That moment grounded me and made me realize all over again the privilege that I have been privy to in my lifetime. In that instance, I was forced to innovate and instead, requested her phone number, which she was happy to provide in place of an email address.
In that same breath, we struck up conversations were several folks who inquired about the farmers’ markets we were promoting accepting food stamps and EBT. These inquiries stifled me. I felt so guilty that we hadn’t even considered the answer to that question. The community members explained how many of the roadside stands are markets don’t accept food stamps. This revealed a barrier to accessing healthier food options for people living on government assistance or on a low-income. It raised questions in my mind about how we might go about this issue moving forward. Perhaps partnering with farmers to encourage or incentivize acceptance of governmental assistance. Similarly, one fairgoer expressed her frustrations with us as she detailed how she is poor and barely able to provide for her family; however, does not fall into eligibility standards to receive Medicaid, so she is uninsured. Her bringing up this point echoes much of what we’ve discussed in both Rural Health and Health Policy. How perplexing that someone is poor and barely getting by, but isn’t considered “poor enough” to receive health care coverage.
In relation to barriers to access, we also had a woman discuss her issues were getting transportation. We have been well-versed in this reality in our course studies, but to talk to a real person about her struggles just getting to her appointments was a reminder of what barriers people in rural places face all too often. She requested information from us about transportation, but we regretfully didn’t know what to tell her. This was something we all agreed would definitely be a point of interest in the future when providing information to the public. It would have been great to have a list of transportation options for the area to provide to people.
Much of the community members that we interacted with were extremely grateful for the information and education we had to offer. The free blood pressure reading checks that our fellow peers/PA students were administering was another “hot ticket interest,” as many flocked over to get their reading. The most memorable moment had to be when a older gentleman pulled his SUV right up to our display and laid his arm out of the vehicle and said, “I can’t get out of the car, but let me get mine checked, if you don’t mind.” The man was handicapped and very overweight so we were happy to oblige. This moment was a reminder about the struggles persons who are disabled face every day and even more so, due to their being in a rural, underserved area like Harnett County. It made me wonder what other barriers and disadvantages that man and people like him face on a daily basis.
I was met with another eye-opening experience as I manned the station I was in charge of. I was sharing the fat/sugar demos I had created to reveal the fat and sugar content of some of our favorite fast food items like a Bojangles biscuit or McDonalds Sweet Tea or a Cook Out Milkshake. After consulting with a registered dietician friend of mine and under her direction, I melted coconut oil into small bags and measured out the fat content in teaspoons and similarly poured teaspoons of sugar into other small bags to represent the sugar content. My hopes were that providing a visual learning display would be user-friendly and effective seeing as we had no way of knowing what kind of educational attainment or insight these people might have regarding health literacy. I am pleased to say that my fat/sugar demos were very well-received and effective at engaging people who came by my station. I could see the pure shock and maybe even a little bit of disgust as fairgoers picked up the hefty bags of sugar and widened their eyes in disbelief. “There’s no way. No way that much sugar is in one milkshake,” said a middle-aged man as he held the sugar bag in his hand.
Additionally, it was encouraging to find out that quite a few people in the community were already involved with growing their own fresh produce at their own home gardens. One mother and her children came by and she detailed all of the fruits and veggies that her and her kids grow in their garden. Hearing that was heartwarming to me and inspiring.
We most certainly learned a lot from putting on these health fairs. I feel like holding them at a public location such as a grocery store chain was a good call. We got to reach a diverse group of people and it was a approachable setting and also one that made sense. Being at a location where people go to get their food and then sharing information regarding health and even nutrition and wellness went hand in hand. I would certainly advocate for more interactive, user-friendly educational tools when hosting future health fairs in the Harnett County area. I do worry that we may have appeared daunting to some people who passed by the tents/stations because of our wordy posters or plethora of handouts and information. Maybe less is more? I wish too that we had an opportunity to ask people who attended our fair what they want to know and what kind of health concerns they personally care about. That would have been a great learning experience to hear directly from community members. In some ways, we did receive that feedback indirectly through our interactions.
There is certainly a lot of work to be done in regards to health needs in Harnett County. I like to think that Team Harnett Health helped nudge that work one step further by hosting our two health fairs. Super proud of my team and so honored to have had this experience.
