Health and Education Fair Survey: A Platform to Support Community-Partnered Endeavors

Background: Evidence-based public health requires reliable information on which to identify priorities, base community-appropriate interventions and initiate policy change. In the US, the available data are either too crude (vital statistics), too wide in scope (NHANES), or depend on administrative data (Medicaid). These data sources are unable to appropriately evaluate the needs of specific communities for health programming particularly those communities that underutilize healthcare and under participate in survey-based assessments. Methods: To remedy these issues, attendees of an annual pediatric-focused community-led health fair were invited to carry health “passports” to free health screening booths offered by partnering organizations. Trained community volunteers screened and questioned attendees on asthma/respiratory health, vision and dental health, speech and language disorders, preventable accidents, nutrition and exercise, mental health and health care utilization. Demographics were also collected. Individuals at risk were provided health education and referral and asked to provide their contact information for follow-up. Upon visiting all the health booths, participants had the option of submitting their de-identified passport for entry into a data repository. Results: Completed passports were collected from 255, 163 ad 274 children in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively. The data highlighted potential areas of need and pointed to trends of increasing chronic disease risk. Results were shared with community partners, stakeholders and health fair participants. Conclusion: The health fair passport approach addresses key gaps in our current data resources and increases community capacity for applied, translational and intervention-based population health research and may support future policy changes relevant to underserved communities.