News-Leader - Health fair at OTC includes no-cost screenings
By Admin, Section From The Wires
Kathleen O'Dell,
News-Leader
A family fair that will include free dental and health screenings, grocery packs, food samples, school supplies, music, entertainment and games for all ages is planned Saturday at Ozarks Technical Community College. Hand in Hand Ministries is partnering with more than 60 community agencies to sponsor the "Vitality, Vim and Vigor Community Health Celebration" from 3 to 7:30 p.m. on the north side of Information Commons West. Events will be indoors and on the lot at the corner of Sherman Avenue and Central Street. The theme is creating a healthy and active community, said Julie Kay Humphrey, program coordinator for Hand In Hand Ministries. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department, CoxHealth CARE Mobile, OTC dental hygiene department, AIDS Project of the Ozarks and Jordan Valley Community Health Center will also provide preventive health care screenings including diabetes and high cholesterol tests. Folk dancing, children's vocal music groups, Jazzercise, church bands and other local musical groups will perform throughout the event. "Everything is free -- we want to emphasize that," Humphrey said. "To emphasize health, all of the recipients of groceries and school supplies will attend a brief, 3Vs nutrition presentation," patterned after the Vitality, Vim and Vigor project, she said. Everyone who attends will also receive a "passport to health" that must be stamped by at least 10 groups set up at the fair before the passport is entered in a gift drawing. The goal is to provide a family event to create awareness about community organizations that provide services and advocate for good nutrition, health educator and more active lifestyles for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health in southwest Missouri, Humphrey said.
She hopes the event will reach underinsured and uninsured families, who are most likely to forgo preventive health care when they don't have money for health care costs. Her group has also targeted invitations in English and Spanish to minority communities around the Ozarks, which suffer health care disparities according to local, regional and state research.
"In getting to Hispanics, for example, it's more difficult simply because of the language issues," Humphrey said. "It's difficult to find adequate, qualified translators. Members of families are often used, and things can be easily misinterpreted. As much as we hear about that, there are still a lot of things missing as far as being able to reach them effectively and let them know the importance of health issues as well as screenings and preventive health care," she said. "Typically those who don't have health insurance wait until they have to go to the emergency room, which is an expense for those of us who are insured as well as it's a very high-priced way to have medical care," Humphrey said. "They do not go for checkups, screenings, and this is a way for them to have free access to (those services) and to become more knowledgeable about what is available in the community. Many are not aware of where to go for low-cost and adjusted fees, and we hope to make them more aware of that." Hand In Hand Ministries, which began in 2000, focuses on improving living conditions and providing resources to ethnic families and individuals in Ozarks communities. Hand in Hand Ministries also helps people in other countries by organizing mission projects to meet physical, mental and spiritual needs. The Hand in Hand Multicultural Center also tries to help Springfield and other area communities by focusing on the needs of ethnic families and individuals to assist them in acclimating to the community and the area. The family fair is an outgrowth of the Vitality, Vim & Vigor, or 3Vs for Life project. The project includes fitness teams, professional counseling and "health parties," in which health educators play host to home-health parties to educate participants in good food choices, healthful cooking tips, and basic good nutrition, and how to incorporate these principles into your current daily activity.
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