Starting A Corporate Health Fair

Dr. Purushothaman
June 15, 2015

Health fairs are increasingly popping up among companies, as they have numerous benefits. These include more interaction among employees, educating them and creating a sturdy health management plan. Perhaps their most important function is to provide employees with a sense of and the importance of health in general. If everyone working for the company is in tip-top shape, the company itself will be faster and more efficient. Of course, the question then comes up – how do you pull off a health fair? Well, fret not, we're here to help. Come look at our guidelines and learn how you can put together a memorable and interesting health fair.

1. Plan Well
The key step to anything is to plan it. For a fair like this, it's best to plan at least half a year in advance. This will give you the time you need to bring everything together. Create a group from within the company that can help you oversee the necessary preparations. This lets employees have a stake in the fair's creation, instead of leaving them out, and also relieves the burden from one person doing all the work. Make sure the time of year is taken into account, in order to accommodate whatever needs the staff might have. An outside health fair in the summer, for example, would work as a chance to escape a stuffy work space.

2. Fun Activities
The inclusion of activities in the health fair can bring more employees on board and reduce whatever stress they may have. One example might be a company barbecue, and a local nutritionist could be hired to prepare the food and balance it out. The nutritionist could also show how to prepare healthy meals, such as salads, desserts and the like. Staff should also be encouraged to bring their family members to the fair. This would create a much more relaxed and colloquial atmosphere, as well as teach loved ones the same health benefits that workers learn.

3. Introduce Long-Term Health Initiatives
Another important part of putting on the fair is the content of the fair itself. This is a great opportunity to introduce new health programs to the company. These can run the gamut from weight loss programs to stress management classes to massaging services. The main purpose of these projects would be to communicate the necessity of good health to employees the year round, not just at an annual event. Health programs would also provide an incentive to workers, as they would be able to perform all their duties while still getting time to break up the day's monotony.

4. Get Your Insurance Providers Involved
Insurance providers are a company's main assets when it comes to employee health. A health fair would be a great chance for employees to meet their insurance provider, learning more about their own health benefits. The providers would also detail the resources available to workers through their individual plans. Many of them offer additional programs related to health fairs as well, thus tying the event back to the provider and vice versa. Connecting with insurance providers is an excellent way to further entice employees into a fair, as it would help place the emphasis on their own health and well-being, instead of only the company's.

5. Executive Support
Probably the most crucial step in getting a company health fair off the ground is to have the higher-ups approve it. In addition to planning, corporate leadership should also be made aware of the event, so they can give feedback and help convince employees to attend. If the supervisors or management don't know a health fair is in the works, they might hate the idea once they're presented with it too late. If they frowned upon the fair, attendance by employees might drastically dwindle, and only a few people would get the opportunity to learn and have fun. It might sound cliché, but you should always ask permission before putting on a health fair.

If you follow all these steps, you should have a wonderful and flaw-free health fair. Even in big corporations, the importance of health should never be underestimated. If any worker is in poor health, then the entire company could suffer, i.e. one of the cogs in a machine breaking. Putting on an expo like this could show employees that their supervisors care about them, and want them to be in good shape. By strengthening employee-boss relations, educating workers on the benefits of good health and lowering stress through fun activities, a health fair would be a good time for all.

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Starting A Corporate Health Fair
Dan Stein is the contributor of this article, working with mobile massage specialists

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