Free community health fair to offer screening, testing and healthy living information
All members of the community are invited to a health fair that will be hosted on April 1 by Թ’s School of Health Professions.
The health fair will provide an opportunity for people to undergo a variety of screening tests and receive important health information, said event organizer Terri Murphy-Sanchez, MS, MLS: CSMLS, ASCPCM, assistant professor and program director in the Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences.
“It’s very important, especially post-pandemic,” Murphy-Sanchez said. “A lot of people weren’t receiving information about their health care or preventative medicine. They also missed out on important annual checkups, screenings and assessments, which are essential to identify problems or whether they should see a clinician.”
Anemia, cholesterol, glucose and HIV testing will be available on site, as well as screenings for hearing, BMI, blood pressure and lung function. In addition, attendees will be able to learn about adaptive equipment use.
“We are also hoping to offer general information that people can take away about healthy habits and lifesaving measures such as CPR,” Murphy-Sanchez said.
Students and faculty from several programs in the School of Health Professions will be participating in the health fair, which is being organized by the Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS). MLS students will be training on point-of-care testing for anemia, cholesterol and glucose, and will be assisting with HIV testing, Murphy-Sanchez said.
Also participating will be Gold’s Gym, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, which will conduct HIV testing. Staff from the office of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro will provide information on a range of services, including veteran and survivor benefits, pensions and health care, Social Security and Medicare.
The health fair will be held on Saturday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to Noon at the Bob Ross Senior Center at 2219 Babcock Road in San Antonio.
Murphy-Sanchez said the goal is to make the health fair an annual event to provide necessary screenings to the public for people who may not have access to annual preventative medicine.
“Our role is to educate our students,” she said. “The students will learn how to apply these learned, program-specific techniques and how to implement that knowledge to better assist our community. It reminds the students that there is a patient on the receiving end of these screenings and tests.”