Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Nov 11/02) - With a national health-care system in crisis, there have long been calls for people to take more responsibility for their own well-being.

Most of all, that means a person getting better informed about health care in general -- and about his or her own health in particular.

Hay River is doing its part to promote individual responsibility with its annual Senior and Adult Health Fair, which was held Oct. 30.

"People are taking more responsibility for their own health," says Laurette Hamilton, the manager of Hay River Community Health Services, which sponsors the event.

And Hamilton says people are asking more and more questions.

A health fair creates a non-threatening environment for people to get flu shots and screenings, and gather information, she says

And they don't feel singled out like they would in visiting a hospital, she adds.

In particular, Hamilton says the fair helps reach men. "We find a lot of men are hesitant to go see a physician when something is wrong."

However, Hamilton says living a healthy lifestyle, or not, is an individual decision. "It's still a personal choice if people decide to live at risk."

Educational process

George Collins, one Hay River resident who dropped into the health fair, says, with the high and increasing cost to the health care system, people should be responsible for taking care of themselves.

"People who smoke, people who drink to excess and people who are overweight are not taking responsibility for their own health," he says.

Collins says the health fair is a part of the educational process on what people can do to look after themselves, and to become more aware of when it is appropriate to see a doctor.

"You don't go to a doctor when you have a hangnail," he says.

However, he says he is not reluctant to see a doctor if he feels it is needed, adding everyone should have the right to consult a competent physician. Collins himself got a flu shot and a tetanus and diphtheria vaccination at the health fair. "I got punctures in both arms."

Another resident, Leona Bourdages, says a health fair is easier than visiting a doctor.

"First of all, you don't need an appointment. That's the main thing," says the former nurse.

Less stress at fair

The health fair is a great opportunity for Jennifer Allen to test for diabetes and get information out about the disease.

Allen is the diabetes nurse educator with the Hay River Community Health Board.

She believes the health fair attracts people because there is less stress involved than seeing a doctor. "There's no build-up."

Between five and eight per cent of the population has diabetes, she notes. "A lot of them don't even know they have it."

Allen was offering blood sugar screening tests and cholesterol checks. If abnormalities showed up, the person was referred to a doctor.

When it began five years ago, the health fair was originally aimed at seniors, but expanded two years ago to include all adults.

Hamilton says it is an opportunity to get a variety of people together to distribute information on a healthy lifestyle.

Along with flu shots and diabetes screening, the fair features blood pressure checks and the opportunity to donate blood. There's also information available from a wide variety of organizations, including the CNIB, the Hay River Seniors Society, the town's recreation department, an occupational therapist and others.

"Every year we're adding more and more," says Hamilton.

She also says that more young people are coming to the fair each year, although the majority are still seniors.

Hamilton believes the health fair is making a difference. For example, she notes a lot of seniors in Hay River have caught up on their immunizations since the fair began. "I'm not sure that would have happened otherwise."