Presenter(s): Allison Dona
Faculty Mentor(s): Josh Snodgrass
Poster 162
Session: Social Sciences & Humanities
The Oregon-based nonprofit organization Huerto de la Familia (“The Family Garden”) and the Global Health Biomarker Laboratory at the University of Oregon come together each year to host Día de Salud, a free health fair for underserved Spanish-speaking individuals in Eugene, Oregon. Día de Salud aims to provide general health information through anthropometric measurements, functional measures (including spirometry), blood pressure, and finger-prick biomarkers (including blood glucose, lipids, hemoglobin, and hemoglobin A1c) as well as consultations with volunteer medical and dental professionals from the community. Each year, 20-25 undergraduate volunteers from the University of Oregon, most with at least some level of Spanish language skills, assist at the event through conducting intake interviews, collecting anthropometric measurements, obtaining capillary blood from finger prick, and providing child care for participant families. Since its creation in 2010, Día de Salud has served between 60 to 80 people every year. This poster describes Día de Salud, including its successes and challenges, in order to outline a model for community-based outreach to improve health care access for low- income families. Although not a substitute for comprehensive primary health care, Día de Salud combines community outreach and anthropology to provide health care services to underserved populations.