Leonid S. Snegireff

Evaluation of a Diabetes Fair

ALTHOUGH there is considerable inter^ est nation-wide in using the health fair to educate the public about health programs and problems, and although scores of communities have operated health fairs, the literature contains only a few references to evaluation studies in this field.3-6 If we are ever to know whether program goals are being achieved, then sound evaluation studies are essential. This report presents the results of an effort to evaluate several specific components of the Diabetes Fair held on November 15 and 16, 1960, in Boston. It is recognized that the study concerns itself with only one section of the United States, but the methods and findings probably are applicable to other sections of the nation. On August 3, 1960, the president of the Metropolitan Diabetes Society appointed an Evaluation Committee to appraise the fair in relation to the two main objectives expressed by those who had been sponsoring the fair since its inception in 1951.2 These objectives were: