1. PROVIDING FAIR HEALTH THROUGH HEALTH FAIRS
Background:
Although there has been a steady increase in the quality of health seen in the
United States, the disparity of health between African Americans and their Caucasian
counterparts have remained constant3. More specifically, there is a higher prevalence of
diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer seen among
African Americans2. There are many factors that contribute to these disparities such as
lack of access and utilization of quality health care, poor health insurance coverage,
negative patient-provider relationships, and the perception that the quality they receive or
would receive is inadequate and therefore serves no purpose3. These factors all contribute
to African Americans not receiving treatment or being screened for diseases that they are
more inclined to develop.
One method that can be implemented in the elimination of this health disparity is
the utilization of primary and secondary preventative health measures4. Primary
prevention is defined as preventing the onset of specific diseases via risk reduction: by
altering behaviors or exposures that can lead to disease, or by enhancing resistance to the
effects of exposure to disease agent. Secondary prevention includes procedures that
detect and treat pre-clinical pathological changes and thereby control disease progression.
Both of these prevention interventions can be implemented through a free community
based event such as a health fair that is created to meet the needs of the African American
population6. Through nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyle counseling at such a health
fair, community members would be educated on lifestyle choices they can make to
decrease the chances of developing diabetes, hypertension, cancers, heart disease and
stroke. Furthermore, having cancer, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol
screenings available, would allow for early detection of chronic disorders leading to a
more positive prognosis.
The purpose of this study is to structure a community-based event that will meet
the needs of the East Tampa community. According to the 2010 US census 59.3% of this
population is African American who has a low median income of $21,372. The poverty
rate here is 21.9% with an unemployment rate of 12.8%. Previous studies1 have shown
that people of low socioeconomic status, especially African Americans, are at a higher
risk of developing chronic disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, etc.
Therefore, I believe it would be beneficial to create an annual community-based health
event that will enable residents of this community to get free health screenings and
information on healthy lifestyle choices in an effort to eliminate African American health
disparities.
Objectives/Hypothesis:
To better understand African American preventive health needs (information & services)
through the conduct of a community-based, face to face survey.
 To assess the level of awareness of primary and secondary preventative health
measures certain chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, various types of
cancer) among adult African Americans residing in East Tampa.
 To evaluate adult African Americans residing in East Tampa ability to access
health information and preventive healthcare in a low resourced community.

2.  To identify facilitators and barriers to health care (i.e. knowledge, attitude,
transportation, insurance status, patient provider communication, low health
literacy, medical mistrust).
Hypothesis Statement: I believe that the high occurrence of certain chronic disorders
(diabetes, hypertension, cancer) among adult African Americans is associated with the
lack of awareness of primary and secondary preventive health measures.
Methods:
Study Design: This cross sectional study will assess adult African Americans residing in
East Tampa, level of knowledge, awareness, and accessibility to health information and
preventive health services.
Recruitment: Participants were recruited from select community venues in East Tampa,
Florida. Inclusion criteria for this study include, a) adult African American, b) be > 18
years of age, c) reside in East Tampa, Florida. Those individuals outside of these
guidelines were excluded from the study. The method used to gather information was by
use of a face-to-face survey. Community members were asked at random to complete a
survey pertaining to their health after being informed about an upcoming community
health fair. Each survey took approximately 2-3 minutes to complete. The survey data
was collected and analyzed using Qualtrics Online Survey tool.
Results:
This study included 33 African Americans residing within the East Tampa area
(33610 Zip Code). 52% of respondents were female and 48% were male. The average age
range was 30 – 42 years of age containing 30% of respondents, 30% were 55 or older,
25% were within the 18 – 29 age range, and the remaining 15% were between 43 and 55
years old. The highest level of education for the majority of respondents was high
school/GED (55%), 24% of respondents attended some college, and 18% received less
than a high school education, and 3% received a 2-year college degree. The average
income was about $20,000 with the most respondents (45%) falling in the below $20,000
category.
According to the survey, 30.30% of respondents had been screened for diabetes,
63.64% had been screened for high blood pressure, 27.27% had been screened for
prostate/ cervical cancer, and 31.25% had been screened for breast cancer (Graph 1). Of
those who were screened for diabetes, 21.21% were screened once a year; compared to
hypertension screening where 27.27% of respondents were screened once a year (Table
1, Graph 2). Among the people who had not received screening, 79% said it was due to a
lack of time, 71% said it was because a lack of coverage/insurance, 75% said it was
because no screening opportunities were provided, and 4% said it was because they
didn’t think it was important (Table 2, Graph 3). Finally, when asked if they would
attend a health fair in their community in order to get screened for diabetes, high blood
pressure, prostate/ cervical cancer, and breast cancer, 88% of respondents said yes.

3. # Question
2-3
Times a
Year
Once a
Year
Once
every 2
Years
Once
every 5
Years
Never
Total
Responses
Mean
1 Diabetes 6.06% 21.21% 3.03% 6.06% 63.64% 33 4.00
2
High
Blood
Pressure
15.15% 27.27% 18.18% 6.06% 33.33% 33 3.15
3
Prostate/
Cervical
Cancer
6.06% 9.09% 6.06% 9.09% 69.70% 33 4.27
4
Breast
Cancer
3.13% 15.63% 12.50% 9.38% 59.38% 32 4.06

4. # Answer Response %
1 Lackof time 19 79%
2
Lackof
Coverage/Insurance
17 71%
3
Don'tthink it's
important
1 4%
4
No screening
opportunities
provided
18 75%
5
No transportation
to get screened
0 0%
Discussion/Implications
Due to the small sample size of this study, no definitive conclusions can be
drawn. However, there are some important implications for further research that can be
gathered. Based on this data, it seems as though more African Americans are being
screened for hypertension than previously thought. This can be due to the increase in
blood pressure stations in stores such as Publix or the availability of blood pressure
machines at home. However, the amount of people being screened for diabetes, prostate/
cervical cancer, and breast cancer is low with only about 30% of participants being
screened for these three disorders. This indicated that there might be a need for more
readily available screening opportunities provided to the community.
The results of this study has also indicated that the reason people of this
community don’t undergo certain screenings is not because of a lack of awareness of the
benefits that preventative health measures provide. Only 4% of the participants said that
they didn’t think that screening was important where as upwards of 70% of participants
said that they didn’t get screened due to their lack of time, lack of coverage/insurance,
and/or no screening opportunities were provided. This information supports the need for
a free community health fair, which would have these services available for the

5. community. In order to be effective however, this health fair will have to be an annual
event so that the people who have never gotten screened will have the opportunity to do
so every year.
Further investigations can be done into the correlation between age and being
screened for certain disorders. There seemed to be a correlation between increasing age
and getting screened for diabetes, hypertension, prostate, cervical, and breast cancer.
Also, when at the community event, data can be collected to see the effectiveness of the
fair as far as it meeting the needs of the community. Also, as the amount of secondary
and primary preventive interventions increases, studies should be done to determine the
utilization of such therapies, if early detection of disorders is leading to a better prognosis
of chronic disorder, and if these interventions are actually making a difference in African
American health disparities.
References
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between health literacy and health outcomes in a predominantly low-income african
american population with type 2 diabetes. Journal of Health Communication, 20(5),
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U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Zip Code 33610 Zip Code/Population/Economy/Homes.
Retrieved from http://www.usacityfacts.com/zip-code-33610/