Something for everyone

 

Want a T-shirt that says “Kiss Me, I’m Vaccinated” or a camouflage lanyard to hold your Annual Meeting ID tag? How about hand sanitizer, a football- or elephant-shaped stress ball or a lifetime supply of ballpoint pens? The Public Health Expo has all that and more.

Walden University’s eye-catching display will even go on to feed the hungry. The canned foods shaped into a car (the wheels are made of bags of black beans) by a group of architects, engineers and others called Canstruction will be donated to the San Francisco Food Bank after the meeting. Why? “Because Walden is about positive social change,” said Dennis Shephard, who works in the school’s marketing department.

APHA’s Get Ready booth has flashlights — something our East Coast friends and family could probably use considering the weather — plus hand sanitizer, forehead thermometers and more, including this year’s Cat Preparedness Calendar. Halloween candy abounds, but we’re grateful to the raimi+associates/Nelson Nygaard booth for offering clementines as well as our friends at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, who for the fourth year in a row are giving out apples because “it’s a health conference, and we’re a health organization,” said Lucy Fehrenbach, who was staffing the booth.

The APHA Sections are on hand with great information and some fun trinkets, such as the orange, foot-shaped pen courtesy of the Podiatric Health Section. The American College of Nurse-Midwives has “Listen to Women” buttons and clocks to promote their awareness campaign.

Have you noticed the amazing “Your ZIP code shouldn’t predict how long you’ll live” banners? The California Endowment’s booth highlights that message and also features an interactive video game in which the player tosses unhealthy choices, such as cigarettes and a handgun, into a trashcan and healthier choices, such as fresh produce, into a shopping bag. The game is part of a permanent exhibit at the California Museum in Sacramento and encourages schoolchildren to learn about healthy lifestyles. And it’s really fun.

The “Kiss Me” T-shirts, as well as those emblazoned with “Shots! Shots! Shots!” and “We’re pushing the needle,” are at the HealthMap booth. Plus, it has fascinating information on its programs to help people find flu immunizations and track disease outbreaks.

Really, there is far too much public health swag to describe here, so head down to the Public Health Expo in Moscone Convention Center South. It’s open 9:30-5:30 Monday and Tuesday and 8:30-12:30 on Wednesday. Also, feast your eyes on summaries from some of today’s hottest public health research featured at the back of the Expo during daily poster sessions. Check the program for times and topics.

— D.C.

Above, the cat preparedness calendar from APHA's Get Ready booth and the canned food car at the Walden University booth. Photos by Donya Currie