Journal of Community Health Vol. 16, No. 4, August 1991 THE HEALTH BELIEFS OF HEALTH FAIR PARTICIPANTS John M. Heath, MD; Karen S. Lucic, BSc; David Hollifield, BS; John R. Kues, PhD ABSTRACT: The motivations and health beliefs of adults who partici- pate in community-based health promotion were studied through a survey of 303 adults attending five community health fairs. Subjects were predominately female (69.9%), over age 60 (66.8%), and had at least yearly contact with a family physician (85.3%). Obtaining labora- tory testing services was the sole reason for attendance for 47% of participants, was thought to be of much greater importance than health educational materials also offered at the health fair, and identi- fied as providing a sense of control over personal health care. Receiv- ing their own normal test results was perceived as assuring a "healthy" future for 86% of participants and few used these results to support erroneous health beliefs. A theme of "positive health feedback", iden- tified through factor analysis of survey responses, may prove useful for family physicians to incorporate into more directed and useful health promotion efforts for enhanced patient participation and satis- faction. INTRODUCTION Health fairs are the most recognizable form of community-based health promotion conducted in this country with an estimated 2 million adults attending one or more health fairs during 19855 The medical literature has often viewed the health promotion effectiveness of these community health fairs with considerable skepticismY Perhaps the greatest concern involves the laboratory screening tests, generally of- fered as a multiphasic blood panel and marketed as a central feature of most health fairs. The limited value of these screening tests in the cost- John M. Heath, MD is Research Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine, State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse. Karen S. Lucic, BSc is a Research Assistant, University of Cincinnati. David Hollifield, BS was a Medical Student, University of Cin- cinnati. John R. Kues, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Cincinnati. This research was conducted during the senior author's faculty development fellowship training at the University of Cincinnati Department of Family Medicine and supported in part by US Dept. H.H.S. Grant #PE85025. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Dr. John Heath, 475 Irving Avenue, Suite 200, Syracuse, New York 13210. © 1991 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 197