Three months of planning, staff involvement at every level and 80,000 photocopies. Those are just a few of the elements that came into play last summer as Western Missouri Correctional Center geared up for its annual health fair.

WMCC first held the fair about 10 years ago. Since then, it has become so successful—in the eyes of inmates as well as health and correctional staff—that the 2004 event caught the attention of NCCHC accreditation surveyors, who nominated it for Program of the Year. Last November, six WMCC representatives took the stage at the National Conference on Correctional Health Care and proudly accepted the award.

National recognition aside, why go through so much trouble? It all comes down to enhancing patient care. Health education is one of her department’s most essential functions, says health services administrator Joy Dawn Hailey, RN, CCHP. But given the nature of the “students”—incarcerated men of varying backgrounds, intelligence and educational levels— it’s also one of the most challenging.

While staff educate patients at every opportunity, the fair enables them to reach individuals who normally don’t request health services. Screenings also identify problems that might not have been detected through regular medical care.

Apart from acute illnesses and disabilities, WMCC inmates have high prevalence of health problems that are well-suited to education and screening in a health fair setting: chronic diseases that arise from unhealthy lifestyles and are worsened by noncompliance with management measures, as well as those related to aging. Most common, says Hailey, are heart disease, diabetes, infectious and sexually transmitted diseases, and seizure disorders.

A Day at the Fair
The one-day health fair is a huge collaborative effort that involves every member of health services and representatives of virtually every other department. Numerous community health agencies also participate.

Last year, 480 inmates attended the fair, and participation has been even higher in previous years. Due to security concerns inmates must preregister, and they receive passes to enter at specific times during the event, which lasts from 8:30 to 4:15.

The 15 educational booths ranged from classic medical topics such as cardiovascular, endocrine and even melanoma to issues such as substance abuse, fire and safety, and spiritual health. Health checks covered seven areas, including blood pressure, blood glucose, testicular, dental and glaucoma. These checks paid off: Hailey says that findings requiring follow-up and, in most cases, treatment were detected in about two dozen inmates.

An outcome that is truly a bonus is the growing involvement by nursing students, who rotate among the booths. After this positive exposure to prison health care, three former students joined the staff as nurses over the past two years.

Classes and Handouts
While it is high-profile, the health fair isn’t the only way WMCC staff reach out to educate inmates. Each month, Hailey and director of nursing Jinece Rees, RN, offer in-depth classes in the “therapeutic community” unit. Designed to reward positive behavior with special benefits and amenities, the unit houses from 50 to 100 inmates, depending on who qualifies. Classes address subjects such as prostate cancer and hepatitis, with a test at the end to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.

“The guys are very interested in those classes,” says Rees, who notes that inmates in this unit also borrow materials from the health department to provide peer education on less complicated subjects.

And always, paper handouts are available to everyone. Administrative assistant Dawn Swinderman—the stalwart soul who makes thousands of copies for the health fair—is always on the alert for contemporary, reader-friendly resources from trustworthy sources.

— About the author: Jaime Shimkus is NCCHC’s publications editor. To contact her, e-mail jaimeshimkus@ncchc.org.