Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SEAN CAMPBELL plays a dice game with Max Campbell, 7, and Aurora Campbell, 5, at the Ironwood Resource Fair and Family Fun night at the Pat O'Donnell Civic Center on Tuesday afternoon.
By MEGAN HUGHES
Ironwood – The Pat O'Donnell Civic Center hosted a health fair on Tuesday where people gathered to learn about health resources in their community. A collaborative effort by the Western U.P. Health Department, Michigan State University-Extension and the Upper Peninsula Health Plan, more than 40 organizations were represented, bringing with them activities for the entire family.
The event combined the health fair aspect with a family fun night, said MSU-Extension educator Erin Ross. "We have got a bunch more organizations this year than we have had in the past. It has been a really good turn-out, and families are hanging around for longer."
"This time of year people are usually struck by spring fever, and unable to get outside, but obviously this year is an exception," she said. "We originally started this as a parenting awareness night. A lot of our tables had activities that parents can do with their kids, and this year we partnered with UPHP and WUPHD to bring in the resource fair aspect."
The fair also aims to educate the community about what resources exist in the area, including from veteran's groups and area health departments.
Amy Nosal, community health worker with the Western U.P. Health Depart-ment said the health fair helps to make resources less intimidating and more approachable for those who might not have considered using them before.
"This helps to put a face to the acronyms," said Nosal, "Acronyms can be forgettable or intimidating, so we hope that people come to say hello and that if they are coming into the health department for the first time that maybe it's not so scary."
Nosal said the WUPHD brought in a number of resources to the fair this year, including immunization equipment, HIV testing, and many more. She said that there have been studies showing that bringing those resources to the public increases outreach, rather than requiring them to come to the health department itself.
One of the things that the WUPHD focused on at its booth this year was seatbelt safety, having a packet for families to take with them to learn about why seatbelts are important.
