Introduction
Conveying public health information to people has always interested me because I like seeing a healthy population. As a public health practitioner, I need to ensure that people take care of their health by educating them about it and addressing any health-related questions they may have. Being a medical technologist also requires that I develop novel ways in the lab and initiate inventions to provide faster and better outcomes.
Working on my APE project allowed me to utilize skills in public health education and take on the role of a leader in public health. I was able to educate employees about their health and how to improve their lifestyles, enabling them to prolong their life expectancy. This, in turn, allowed me to utilize new skills, which improved my results. I have always wanted to host a health fair because I love teaching people, and this was an excellent opportunity to utilize my leadership skills and make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Additionally, as a public health practitioner, my duty involves ensuring that my colleagues follow health safety guidelines to ensure that they are healthy and can work without any disturbances from health conditions. Therefore, the focus of my APE project was teaching employees health and safety measures and providing them with an opportunity to ask any questions regarding their health. The health fair was a basis for the health information conveyed in Queens and Long Island; hence, my team and I ensured that it was perfect. The health fair also served as a platform for connecting with people of different ages.
The healthcare practitioners who participated in the fair represented a diverse range of ages, enabling the fair to cover a broad spectrum of information. The health fair provided a faster way for employees to understand what was happening in their bodies and what they might need to investigate. The event was valuable because the workers became aware of health issues they had not previously been aware of. The screenings helped detect issues earlier and enabled those with health problems to address them sooner.
Moreover, healthcare testing was beneficial for employees who required additional resources or time to visit their doctors and undergo blood work. The information every employee received about their health allowed them to take it to their primary doctor to determine changes in their health over time and adjust their care as required. This impacted the participants because they now had a starting point.
The health fair was also cost-effective, as participants could save money on their testing, which was discounted. The fair served as a vital medical resource for individuals who had not visited a doctor in a while. The health fair was a success, and I completed my competencies, which guided the process. APE has been a fantastic experience because I could use my skills to complete my deliverable. Below is the list of competencies I selected for the project.
APE Competencies
Competency 1
Suggest methods for health enhancement and eliminating health inequalities by collaborating with organization stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, community leaders, and other partners. Collaboration among stakeholders in healthcare is crucial for finding solutions to problems experienced in healthcare, such as health inequities. The collaboration with different departments, such as the FDA Commissioner’s Office of Occupational Health, the NY facility, and the FDA Jamaica stakeholders, among others, allowed the development of a game plan to host an in-house health fair for workers through utilizing different medical fields and local practitioners to carry out fundamental health screenings for workers.
Health fairs are very important since they help individuals stay in touch with their bodies, enabling them to receive the care they need or prevent future problems, while also offering convenience and cost savings (“Why run a health fair”, n.d.). Hence, hosting a health fair event enabled us to cover a range of topics within a single event. Research reveals that hosting a health fair at work can reduce worker absenteeism, yield a positive return on investment, enhance work performance, and boost job satisfaction.
Communication and education also helped to bring about a paradigm shift in the attitudes of FDA workers regarding healthcare engagement and self-care. Healthcare workers need to be motivated and have high morale at all times to improve their performance. The healthcare industry is critical and requires a meticulous workforce with enthusiasm for their jobs to counter the challenges that come with the job. Providing sign-in sheets ensured the attendance of employees at the fair.
The health fair also included customized testing for participants, featuring both men’s and women’s packages, as well as tests focused on Thyroid diseases. We first determined the participants’ needs before administering the test. One crucial thing we needed to do before starting the test was to fast. All participants were required to fast for 12 hours before testing to ensure optimal results. The health fair emphasized the quality of tests to ensure accurate diagnoses.
Competency 2
Communicating public health science to varied stakeholders, including people at every health literacy level, to influence behavior and policies. Before the in-person health fair, we used posters to display fun healthcare facts, along with a section that shared relevant basic health information. The poster was displayed in prominent areas in the workplace. Posters are crucial for communicating public health messages, as they target both literate and illiterate audiences. They have high value in communicating messages to illiterate people since they can act as a visual aid.
Providing attendees with informational fact sheets on basic screening and self-care techniques helped them understand the benefits of screening and why it is essential to care for themselves to prevent diseases. Creating a checklist to serve as a guide for other FDA facilities demonstrated how to develop and implement a health fair, aiming to increase worker awareness of healthy lifestyle habits and enhance employee life expectancy and morale.
Competency 3
Proposing inter-professional team approaches to improving public health. In this competency, we recruited professional healthcare participants who helped with the health fair. They performed various roles, like educating employees and conducting workshops on ways to live a healthy lifestyle and how to change behaviors that shorten life expectancy. They also provided a link to health providers that can offer consistent key medical care to committed FDA workers. Most companies invest in the health and well-being of their employees to reap future benefits.
As the productivity and morale of staff improve, sickness absence and staff turnover decrease. Hence, educating employees on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle will benefit the FDA because it will reduce employee turnover rates due to illness. We requested health professionals from the hospitals, so we emailed the hospital management to request their assistance. We then conducted a follow-up email to find out the professionals who would be present at the fair.
Competency 4
Assessing an audience’s knowledge and learning needs. We assumed that every employee has knowledge of their health and may have heard some public health facts. Assessing this knowledge helped us know where the employees stand and where to begin teaching them about public health. We developed a pre- and post-blind assessment for participants to evaluate whether they would implement the changes learned at the health fair. We asked for their opinions before and after the fair to determine if it was helpful to them and whether they planned to use the information for their health and safety.
Competency 5
Delivering training or educational experiences that encourage education in school, organizational, or community settings. We developed an educational program for the different Queens and Long Island communities that captured the essence of the health fair in a convenient and portable manner. The health fair helped us convey public health messages to people of different community organizations; hence, we would want it to be perfect. It would serve as a base for teaching health education to employees in various parts of the city.
Conclusion
In conclusion, creating a health information sheet tailored to a specific demographic in the Queens and Long Island area, highlighting key information learned at the health fair, helped us effectively convey the message to people who did not attend the event. We were specific about the issues affecting the areas’ populations so that the fair would help those people. Conducting this project was highly beneficial in developing my skills as a public health practitioner. I have learned new things and exercised my leadership skills, which will help me in my professional journey.
Reference
Why run a health fair event. (n.d.). Wellbeing People. Web.