Senior Health Fair

On Saturday we got up before dawn and set off with no coffee and no breakfast. This is not a normal procedure for us, but we managed it, although we were both a bit befuddled without our caffeine. We wanted to take advantage of the local hospital senior health fair, and have both our cholesterol and blood glucose tested. In order to get an accurate reading, 8 hours of fasting is required prior to the test.

It occurred to me that maybe some of you are not aware of what a wonderful resource this can be, a health fair sponsored by the local hospital. In many areas this is an annual or bi-annual event. The hospital and many of its staff volunteer their services to provide health care screenings free of charge to local seniors. If you have not found a health fair near you, check at your local home base hospital, or check the medical center near you. We found the information in the local newspaper, but since this is a volunteer run program, the publicity may not always be premium quality.

Anyhow, our local hospital provided screening in such essential areas as bone density, oral check, skin cancer check, blood pressure, hearing, vision, cholesterol, blood glucose, and they even cleaned out the ears of many who had problems with wax build up. Not only were these services offered free of charge to all who attended, a tasty snack was also provided; coffee and tea, huge tureens of fresh strawberries (thank you Driscoll berries) cheese and crackers, tiny muffins and plenty of smiles.

There were also lots of local health related services offering information, the senior resource directory was chock full of contacts for everything from job placement to visiting home nursing care. The heart association came with a table demonstrating heart healthy food choices, the parks and recreation had plenty of schedules and brochures for their activities, the local junior college dental technician program handed out programs for scheduling a cut rate teeth cleaning, the acupuncture people informed all of their unique services, meals on wheels, Eldercare, Parkinson’s, M.S., eye care, elder day care, driving classes, food bank, hearing aid hotline, senior centers, kidney fund, cancer support group, leukemia and lymphoma society, mental health network, and a host of helping hands programs all had lots of information and resources to share with those interested. We came home with a bag full of tests and information, phone numbers and referrals and a warm feeling from all the wonderful caring nurses, doctors and volunteers who worked so hard to give us the help and attention we need.

And do I need to add, their patience was saintly! Check with your local hospital and ask if they have a health fair, circle it on your calendar and attend. Even if it means having to skip morning coffee once a year!