Another great way to educate your community is the “Healthy Minds” Health Fair program.  Sponsoring a health fair can be as simple as running an informational booth at a local gathering spot or as complex as organizing multiple booths and/or mental health screenings.  Through this effort, you will be getting your  messages across to your community in a very personal manner.  Moreover, this activity enables you to reach people you might not ordinarily reach and also gets your local mental health professionals into direct contact with the general public.

1.  Form a “Healthy Minds” Coordinating Committee:  It only takes a couple of people and some quick planning to get a health fair off the ground.  If you are doing a Town Hall or other event, have that coordinating committee take on this additional responsibility.  You can take advantage of the committee’s efforts in site selection and recruitment of mental health professionals for the fair.  If not, you should be able to do this event with minimal assistance.

2.  Select Site and Date(s) for Health Fair: You want to select a location with a lot of foot traffic.  Malls, civic centers, schools, universities and other popular gathering spots are great sites.  Check with the site operator for any rules or restrictions and all available dates.  Setting a date and time for your health fair depends on the activeness of your site.  If your site is busy everyday at all hours, you could plan your “Healthy Minds” booth for one day.  However, if your site only sees heavy activity during particular times of the day, such as lunch, you may want to consider scheduling your fair at those times over a number of days.

3.  Line Up Volunteers:  Secure the participation of your local mental health professionals for mental health screenings and referrals.  Recruit other volunteers to discuss your issues and services with passersby and distribute your literature.  You should develop a schedule for your health fair and have your volunteers commit to specific blocks of time.

4.  Publicize!:  You will want to let your community know of your health fair at least a week in advance.  Here are a few ideas on how to get the word out:

• Develop flyers using the messages of Mental Health Month or other educational programs and post them at your site.  Make sure to get the permission of your site operator before posting.
• If you are holding your health fair at a school, ask the principal if you can send flyers home with the kids and/or provide an article for the PTA newsletter.
• Submit the date of your health fair to your local newspaper, radio or TV station’s calendar of events.
• Encourage your community paper to send a reporter or photographer to the health fair.

B.)  Running the “Healthy Minds” Health Fair

1.  Design and Set-Up:

• Create an attention-grabbing banner with a ‘teaser’ line such as “Why Does Mental Health Matter?”
• Set your booth or table up in a high visibility area.
• Decorate your booth or table in an orderly manner.
• If conducting screenings, allow for participants’ privacy in your booth design.
• Be friendly and nonconfrontational in your approach with passersby.
• Have plenty of informational brochures available for people to take and read at their convenience. Be sure to your include your organization’s telephone number on this literature.
• Have a petition or letter about parity or other mental health issues ready for people to sign.
• Have someone take photos of your “Healthy Minds” effort.

2.  Be Creative!:  Think up other ways to attract more people to your health fair.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Hold a raffle contest.  It will draw more people to you, especially if you don’t charge them anything.  If you’re conducting your health fair at a mall, ask one of the mall stores to donate an item for the raffle.
• Plan a walk-a-thon for the same time as your “Healthy Minds” effort.  For this activity, you could enlist the assistance of a mall walking club and/or a health club for an indoor or outdoor walk-a-thon.  This activity requires planning and coordination.  You need to consider routes, pledges, prizes and other issues that go along with walk-a-thons.
• Hold a book reading for children.  Pick a book that discusses feelings or other mental health issues.  Leave time for the kids to talk about their thoughts.

1.  Prepare a News Release:  Immediately after the health fair, prepare a news release for your local media.  Include a description of the event, number of visitors to your booth and a quote from one of your volunteers on how effective your fair was.  Also, include facts about mental illnesses, treatment effectiveness and insurance discrimination.

2.  Write an Article for Your Newsletter:  Feature the health fair in your next newsletter.  Mention the names of everyone who participated in the planning and running of your event.  Include photos.

3.  Let NMHA Know about Your Success:  Send copies of all news releases, articles, and pictures about your health fair so we can pass on the good word about your effort.

4.  Thank Everyone Involved: Be sure to send thank-you letters to volunteers, your site operator, and any other individuals or groups that pitched in with the health fair.