Lessons learned from a black and minority health fair's 15-month follow-up counseling.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of community health fairs on participants' health knowledge, literacy, attitudes, or behaviors. Few health fairs have provided followup services for participants.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term (baseline) and long-term (10-month follow-up) health effects of exposure to the Indiana Black and Minority Health Fair (BMHF) and to assess the impact of personalized 15-month follow-up health counseling sessions for the BMHF participants who agreed to the sessions.
METHODS: A prospective panel study design was utilized with a pre-post test in addition to a cross-sectional survey design.
RESULTS: Although few behavioral changes were observed between the baseline and the precounseling 10-month follow-up, more people perceived themselves as overweight (68.1% vs 65.3%, p < .01) and fewer people watched TV/videos 4 hours or more on a usual weekday (25.6% vs 47.0%, p <.001) than 10 months before. After the 15-month follow-up health counseling sessions, the intervention group reported substantial and meaningful improvements in self-reported general health status, health status compared to 6 months earlier, percentage of overweight or obese people, choosing leaner meats over those higher in fat, snacking while watching TV or videos, and placing a high priority on exercise when planning a schedule.
CONCLUSIONS: A follow-up component to the health fair is not only necessary but also in demand for improving health literacy and healthy outcomes for participants. Efforts should be made to transform health fair encounters from episodic experiences to long-term educational experiences that spur individuals to make the necessary changes to enhance their health.