What to expect at a free health check-up camp

If you have never been to a health camp, the idea can feel strange. Why would doctors give their time for free? What will they ask? Will it take all day? This short guide answers the questions that visitors ask us most often.

Before you go

Bring any old prescriptions or reports, a list of the medicines you take and your spectacles if you wear them. Wear a shirt with loose sleeves. Eat as usual unless a volunteer tells you to come without food for a sugar test.

At the registration table

A volunteer writes your name, age and phone number on a card. The card goes with you from table to table, and each person who helps you writes on it. Keep it safe, because it is your record of the day.

The tests

The poster of one of our camps listed a blood pressure reading, a finger-prick sugar test, an ECG, a Pap smear for women, an eye test, a dental check and a consultation with a doctor. Not every camp offers every test, so check the poster of the camp you plan to attend.

With the doctor

The doctor reads the card, asks a few questions and explains what the numbers mean. Ask anything you like. If a reading is high, the doctor will tell you what to do next, which is usually to repeat the test in a few days or to visit a clinic.

After the camp

• Keep your card and show it to your family doctor.
• If a reading was high, repeat the test as advised.
• Take medicines only as your own doctor prescribes.
• Tell a neighbour about the next camp.

A camp is a first look, not a full examination. Its value is that it reaches people who would otherwise not be checked at all.