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April 17th - 25th, 2010
Volunteer for the 9Health Fair! What a great way to increase the visibility of the pharmacist as an important member of the health care team.
The 9Health Fair has been in existence for over 30 years and has over 150 sites throughout the state. Fairs are scheduled during a period in mid-April each year - the 2010 fairs will be held from April 17 to 25 and each fair lasts 4 to 5 hours. The goals of the fair are to:
- Promote health awareness and encourage participants to assume responsibility for their own health
- Encourage participants to establish and maintain a personal wellness program
- Help participants understand the relationship between positive lifestyles and their overall health
- Provide health screenings and information about health problems
HOW TO SIGN UP
Volunteering for the 9Health Fair is a simple process. Go to www.9healthfair.org, click on “Find a Fair” then “Find a Health Fair.” Enter the criteria you want to use to search for sites (use city or zip code), and then click on “Screenings” and then “Ask a Pharmacist.” When you click search, a complete list of sites requesting a pharmacist will appear. Choose the date and location that best suits you and then go to the "Volunteer" tab and "Sign up to volunteer." The 9Health Fair site coordinator will contact you to confirm your participation. More information about the fair can be found at www.9healthfair.org.
PHARMACISTS TOOLS
To assist pharmacists and pharmacy students in providing services at fairs, a variety of tools have been/are being developed. Pharmacists and pharmacy students are welcome to choose from this list of tools and offer any of these services at the fairs.
While at the fair, you can wear white lab coats if you want to, but you are not required to do so. You can use educational materials that have company logos on them, but you cannot promote any company or business at the fair. If you just sit at a table and wait for people to come to you, you may be bored and lonely. Be prepared to approach people who are often standing in line for long periods of time at the fair and interact with them. You can choose what you want to do based on your knowledge, expertise and experience - here are some suggestions (see links below for tools and resources):
- Take medication histories for people preparing to get their blood drawn
- Offer brown bag medication screening
- Offer screening for vaccinations, osteoporosis risk factors, heart disease risk factors or smoking cessation therapy
- Promote medication safety/poison prevention
- Promote the profession of pharmacy and pharmacy services
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