All sorts of folks in the health care field are gearing up for the 14th Annual Early Signs Health Fair, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Life Care Center of Hilo.
Providers, agencies and individual practitioners will once again provide free services at the fun and informational event organized under the guidance of honorary chairman Dr. Kevin Kurohara and Life Care senior executive Fred Horwitz.
Dr. Brian Sugai will provide free foot screens for the 12th year in a row. Drs. Patsy Fujimoto and Chris Igawa will offer free oral screens. Dr. Stacey Nagareda again will provide free chiropractic screens.
Last year, participants reported learning new things about their health and their body. Clinical Laboratories provided free cholesterol checks for 150 participants and gave participants a written report of their results. Lab representatives provided education on cholesterol and answered questions.
Hui Malama Ola Na Oiwi, along with Hawaii Community College nursing students, will offer free blood sugar checks; the University of Hawaii Nursing Program will provide blood pressure checks. PharMerica and Mina Pharmacy will review medications for participants. Alzheimer’s Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Arthritis Foundation, National Kidney Foundation, Office of Aging, Social Security, Services for Seniors, AARP, Big Island Nutrition Council, Hawaii Island Adult Care and Legal Aid will man information booths.
Local physicians will provide presentations every half hour and will stay around for individual questions. At 9 a.m., Dr. William Hartman will speak on “Gastroenterology”; 9:30 a.m., Dr. Aaron Morita on “Long Distance Running”; 10 a.m., Dr. Doug Hiller on “Overuse Injuries”; 10:30 a.m., Dr. Daniel Hudak on “Surgery Questions”; 11 a.m., Dr. Robert Shapiro on “Healthy Skin”; 11:30 a.m., Dr. Shay Bintliff on “The Wellness Path”; noon, Dr. Kevin Kurohara on “Alzheimer’s and Dementia”; 12:30 p.m., Dr. Christopher Linden on “Prostate”; 1 p.m., Dr. Gabriele Barthlen on “Sleep Disorder,” and 1:30 p.m., Dr. Samuel Paltin on “Live Enthusiastically.”
Activity demonstrations will be every half hour, including hula at 9:15 a.m., tai chi at 9:45 a.m., ballroom dancing at 10:15 a.m., Rhythm and Life at 10:45 a.m., Zumba at 11:15 a.m., line dancing at 11:45 a.m., aikido at 12:15 p.m., gymnastics at 12:45 p.m., and Joy in Moving at 1:15 p.m.
Project Vision Hawaii is returning this year to provide free retinal screens.
Additional booths include Hawaii COPD Coalition, doTerra, Ho’okele Health Technologies, Sage Plus, Direct Link, Hospice, Life Max, Hawaii Fire Department, HMSA and more.
If you have questions about the event, or would like to schedule a cholesterol or memory check, please call Life Care’s Social Services Department at 959-9151.
Last year’s participants wrote evaluations which included the following comments”
“I rate this health fair ‘very excellent’… staff excellent and polite with smiles.” “Terrific.” “Thank you… I cannot believe all the great free services you offer.” “Every year it just gets better and better.” “It was so nice to be able to speak to a physician and get a good understanding about how to take care of my body”; “I never knew how many different ways there were to exercise our body and how many classes are available”; “The booth people were so helpful and full of information — I took flyers from each one and I am going to make a book of it”; The Life Care staff helped me find everything, checked my memory and my balance.”
