United States Department of Veterans Affairs
United States Department of Veterans Affairs

National Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention (NCP)

Gainesville Health Fair

 

 

Cindy Spencer, RN, MOVE! Program Coordinator and Barry Murphy, Employee Wellness Coordinator hosted a Veterans Health & Safety Fair at the Malcom Randall VAMC on February 23rd.  Funds for the event were made possible via a 2006 Public Health Grant Award program that Cindy and Barry applied for and were selected as a recipient.  The intent of the fair was to provide an avenue for our veterans to access numerous community health and safety related agencies as well as many local services found in the medical center. 
 
The event was a great success due to the hard work of many people representing their specialized areas. The community participants were: Gainesville Police Department, Alachua County Sheriffs Office, Alachua County Fire Rescue, United Way 211, Fit for Life, Gainesville Health & Fitness, Florida Department of Health, and the Florida School of Massage who by the way administered 56 massages. The medical center offered representatives from MAS, Patient Education, Recreation Therapy, MyHEALTHe Vet, Smoking Cessation, Women's Health, Nutrition and Food Service with their new kiosk, Seamless Transition Team, Hypertension Clinic, Veterans Canteen Service and a great Healthy Lifestyle exhibit. The new Healthy Lifestyle display table featured handouts on MOVE, HealthierUS Veterans, HealthierFeds, and the Presidential Physical Activity Challenge. There was a great wealth of information and educational materials offered to enhance the well-being of all in attendance.    
 
Some of the comments from the vendors included:  "we felt so welcomed, would come back again, the layout was great, great people, great food and great music, excellent job, thanks for serving healthy yet tasty food, and the massages were great" Some comments from the veterans were: "enjoyed having a chance to talk to with organizations from the community, enjoyed watching the dietitian cook and learning healthy recipes, got a lot of helpful information and of course they all loved Albert!"
 
The veterans and staff were entertained by our very own National Veterans Creative Arts Festival winners and recording artists, Glenn Moody and Matt DeWein alias "Hamhock & Slide" playing their special blues style of music. They were later joined by "claw hammer style" banjo picker Dr. Charles Levy, M.D. from Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service. It was quite a pleasure to have these great performers share their talents with us all. The excellent healthy snacks provided by the Veterans Canteen Service and the Food and Nutrition kiosk were also hard to beat.
 
The event was at a high point when the local favorite and University of Florida mascot Albert the Alligator joined us to celebrate the event. Albert toured the medical center with VA Fellow, Amelie Romelus encouraging veterans and their families to attend.  Evidently they were quite successful considering the large turnout.  Cindy and Barry would like to thank everyone who helped make the Veterans Health and Safety Fair so enjoyable.