Abstract

1. Is the USU Health Expo Worthwhile for Vendors and Participants? Marisa Neilson, Troy Bailey, Alanya Perry, Aleene Poulsen, Amy Lofley, Hilari Holmgren, Caitlin Miller, Sandra McCabe, Heather Call, Emily Johnson, Jacqui Roberts, D’Sean Hattaway, Dayna Barrett, Ryan Barfuss, Janette Kudin Department of Nutrition, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84321 Participant Survey Results A total of 167 participants took a ten-question survey after visiting the booths at the Expo to evaluate the demographic and overall health of the attendees. The first 100 participants were offered a “Free Wellness Option” at Aggie Ice Cream. Age and Gender Abstract The evaluation of the USU Wellness Expo was used to find out the overall effectiveness of the Expo and those who were in attendance.  To evaluate the Expo, surveys were completed by vendors and participants and analyzed by the NDFS 4750 Management in Dietetics class.  Through analysis it was found that most participants were young female students with generally good reported health.  Upon further inspection approximately 35% of the attendees were faculty or staff and nearly one quarter of those surveyed stated that they attended the Expo to improve their health.  This indicates that the target audience was not in attendance and that better advertising is needed to locate individuals at risk for health problems.  Overall the participants and vendors found the USU Wellness Expo to be beneficial and worthwhile.  Ninety percent of the attendees surveyed and 98% of the vendors stated they would return in upcoming years.  From the perspective of participants the USU Wellness Expo could be improved by having better advertisement, more incentives and more student oriented booths.  In upcoming years vendors indicated that there needs to be more advertisements, and to see more USU Faculty and staff. • Conclusions • Implications • Successful Research Practices • Use of technology for out electronic survey • Data collection and marketing • Use of incentive and response rates of the survey • Improvements for Future Evaluations • To improve our marketing, we could have included the survey on the passport used by the USU Wellness Expo participants. Further improving marketing strategies: • Marketing to middle-age groups • Recruiting more men • Enticing the “less healthy” • There is little information on how to recruit more men, how to market to different age groups, and how to entice the less healthy. More research is needed before conclusions are made on how to effectively reach the target population. • Conclusion • Through analysis it was found that: • Most participants were young female students with generally good reported health • Approximately 35% of the attendees were faculty or staff • One quarter attended the Expo to improve their health • Overall, the participants and vendors found the USU Wellness Expo to be beneficial and worthwhile, and 98% of the vendors stated they would return in upcoming years Vendor Survey Results The vendor surveys were analyzed to see who participated in the past, how likely they are to come back next year, and suggestions to improve the Expo in following years. Age and Gender: A majority of the attendees were18-25 and female, except in the 26-36 year age range. The trend toward younger age groups can be expected when held on a university campus. The general public made up 2%, indicating that the event is better suited for those in college. . What did vendors gain from the Wellness Expo: 60% of the vendors stated that their business had good outcomes, and 16% saw no change or difference. Literature Cited Dillon DL, Sternas K. Designing a Successful Health Fair to Promote Individual, Family, and Community Health. Journal of Community Health Nursing. 1997;14(1):1-14. Lucky D, Turber B, Hall M, Lefaver S, de Werk A. Blood pressure screening through community nursing health fairs: Motivating individuals to seek health care follow-up. Journal of Community Health Nursing. 2011;28(3):119-129. Kelly KM, Porter K, Remy A, Westman JA. Promotion of Cancer Family History Awareness: Jameslink Cancer Risk Assessment Tool at Community Health Fairs. 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Factors to consider in designing a patient satisfaction survey. Nursing Management. November 2011;18(7):23-27. Hecker EJ. Feria de Salud: Implementation and Evaluation of a Communitywide Health Fair. Public Health Nursing 2000; 17(4):247-256. Materials and Methods • Rating of Personal Health: • Only 8% in attendance considered themselves “less healthy than most”. Other answers included: • 54% “as healthy as most” • 24% “healthier than most” • 4% “neutral/unsure” Willingness to participate in the Wellness Expo next year: Both new and returning vendors indicated an 81% extremely high likelihood of participation in coming years. Acknowledgments We would like to thank the USU Wellness Coordinator, Dayna Barrett and the Management of Dietetics Professor, Janette Kudin. We would also like to thank USU Student Services and Human Resources. This project was funded by the USU Be Well Program. • Process of evaluating the USU Wellness Expo • The NDFS 4750 Management in Dietetics class combined with the USU Wellness Expo to evaluate the annual health fair provided to USU students and faculty. • Materials and Methods included: • The target population: those at risk for health problems • Developed and validated a survey for both participants and vendors • Data collected on the day of the USU Wellness Expo • Evaluation will show if: • The Expo is worthwhile for vendors and participants • The target population was met For Further Information Please contact dayna.barrett@usu.edu or janette.smith@usu.edu. More information on this and related projects can be obtained at http://www.usu.edu/wellness/. Why participants came to the Wellness Expo: Other than the approximate 53% of attendees that were there out of curiosity, the greatest reason for attending the Expo (23 %) was to improve their health. Comments and suggestions for improvement: 17% of vendors suggested more advertisement to the general public (4 vendor responses) and students (2 vendor responses). Seventeen percent of the vendors stated that they would like an increase in their target audience, being USU staff, for next year’s Expo. Six percent also suggested flu shots be available to increase traffic.