Seniors Health and Wellness Fair
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The 2015 Seniors' Health and Wellness Fair, hosted by the Tillsonburg Senior Centre, seemed to have a little bit of everything.
"It was excellent," said Nancy Boutin, Senior Centre Administrator, pleased with the turnout on September 30th.
"I would say it was a very, very positive experience for everybody," she said, noting the response from participant surveys.
There were 285 visitors at the Lions Auditorium, and about 175 through the Senior Centre.
"So we're pleased with those numbers," Boutin nodded. "We were also pleased with the number of vendors we had."
Forty-nine vendors registered to take part in the one-day health and wellness fair, which took months to organize. They also ran several seminars, helpful to seniors.
"We did one on tax benefits for seniors, we had one on disaster preparedness, and Alzheimer's disease."
The Alzheimer Society introduced a new program, Finding Your Way, a program that offers practical advice on how people with dementia can stay safe while staying active. It shows how to best deal with the risk of going missing.
The event was available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., one hour shorter than the last Health and Wellness Fair two years ago.
"The last time we did it, we ran it from 9-3. The response we had on the surveys at the end was that the last hour slowed. We even saw, this year, between 1-2 it got a little quieter. So I think we would probably stick with the 9-2 time format in other years."
Other suggestions on other improvements to make for future health and wellness fairs included services and attractions.
"They needed and wanted a sitting area a little closer, so that's something we'll bear in mind next time if we apply for this grant and organize it again.
"You see people who want to come back again and again, so you want to keep it as fresh as possible. Every year the seminars change.
"The one we do run year after year, because it's always the best attended seminar, is the Tax Benefits for Seniors. People are always finding something that they didn't quite know about to help them with their taxes."
Funding for the health and wellness fair was received from the OACAO (Older Adult Centres Association of Ontario) and the Ontario Senior Secretariat.
"Thank you to the vendors for coming out to support it," said Boutin, "and the people who came out and supported it, and for all the wonderful comments that they left. It was something they appreciated, which certainly reinforces that we were doing a good job."