APhA-ASP members participate in Kaʻu Health Fair

DKICP students from the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) chapter recently collaborated with staff at the Kaʻu Hospital to provide free health screenings at the first annual Kaʻu Hospital Health Fair.

During the event, held Saturday, August 26, at the Pahala Community Center, P3 students performed blood pressure and blood glucose screenings for local community members, and provided them with related health education materials to increase awareness about these common conditions. The AphA-ASP chapter was one of 20 healthcare vendors participating in health fair, which was attended by more than 100 community members.

“Our chapter’s involvement in this event really reinforced the importance of doing more outreach to smaller communities around the island,” says P3 Rosalind Wong, APhA-ASP patient care vice president in charge of all of the chapter’s health screening events. “The community participants were really appreciative of having increased access to something as simple as a blood pressure and blood glucose screenings, and a lot of them were also very interested in getting more information about these conditions.

“This event was a great way to start the school year, since one of our organization’s goals is to increase outreach and provide more free health screenings to communities beyond East Hawaii Island,” she adds.