Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, 7000 Fannin Street, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
BMC Cancer. 2017 Dec 18;17(1):865. doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3867-3.
Low income and uninsured individuals often have lower adherence to cancer screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Health fairs are a common community outreach strategy used to provide cancer-related health education and services.
This study was a process evaluation of seven health fairs focused on cancer screening across the U.S. We conducted key-informant interviews with the fair coordinator and conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with fair participants to describe characteristics of participants as well as their experiences. We collected baseline data with participants at the health fairs and telephone follow-up surveys 6 months following the fair.
Attendance across the seven health fairs ranged from 41 to 212 participants. Most fairs provided group or individual education, print materials and cancer screening during the event. Overall, participants rated health fairs as very good and participants reported that the staff was knowledgeable and that they liked the materials distributed. After the fairs, about 60% of participants, who were reached at follow-up, had read the materials provided and had conversations with others about cancer screening, and 41% talked to their doctors about screening. Based on findings from evaluation including participant data and coordinator interviews, we describe 6 areas in planning for health fairs that may increase their effectiveness. These include: 1) use of a theoretical framework for health promotion to guide educational content and activities provided, 2) considering the community characteristics, 3) choosing a relevant setting, 4) promotion of the event, 5) considerations of the types of services to deliver, and 6) evaluation of the health fair.
The events reported varied in reach and the participants represented diverse races and lower income populations overall. Most health fairs offered education, print materials and onsite cancer screening. Participants reported general satisfaction with these events and were motivated through their participation to read educational materials or discuss screening with providers. Public health professionals can benefit from this process evaluation and recommendations for designing and evaluating health fairs.
低收入和没有保险的个人通常对乳腺癌、宫颈癌和结直肠癌筛查的依从性较低。健康集市是一种常见的社区外展策略，用于提供与癌症相关的健康教育和服务。
本研究对美国 7 个专注于癌症筛查的健康集市进行了过程评估。我们对集市协调员进行了关键知情者访谈，并对集市参与者进行了基线和随访调查，以描述参与者的特征及其体验。我们在健康集市上收集了参与者的基线数据，并在集市后 6 个月进行了电话随访调查。
这 7 个健康集市的参与人数从 41 人到 212 人不等。大多数集市在活动期间提供团体或个人教育、印刷材料和癌症筛查。总的来说，参与者对健康集市的评价非常好，他们表示工作人员知识渊博，分发的材料很受欢迎。在集市之后，约 60%的参与者（在随访中联系到的）阅读了提供的材料，并与他人就癌症筛查进行了讨论，41%的人与他们的医生讨论了筛查。基于评估中的发现，包括参与者数据和协调员访谈，我们描述了在规划健康集市时可能增加其效果的 6 个方面。这些方面包括：1）使用健康促进的理论框架来指导提供的教育内容和活动，2）考虑社区特征，3）选择相关的环境，4）宣传活动，5）考虑提供的服务类型，6）评估健康集市。
报告的活动在参与人数上有所不同，参与者代表了不同的种族和整体较低的收入群体。大多数健康集市提供教育、印刷材料和现场癌症筛查。参与者对这些活动普遍表示满意，并通过参与活动，他们受到激励去阅读教育材料或与提供者讨论筛查。公共卫生专业人员可以从这项过程评估和设计及评估健康集市的建议中受益。
