Does ballroom dancing promote better marital relationships? Does riding horses help those with disabilities?

It’s a growing trend among health care professionals and nonprofit providers that these and other activities may help with what ails you—or, even better, may aid you in remaining well.

Locating information about these alternative solutions as well as traditional health providers has been the goal of the Springfield-Greene County Library District’s Ozarks Wellness Fair for nine years. This year’s event, to be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. next Saturday [February 9], will sprawl across the Library Center’s spacious foyer as well as the auditorium and two other meeting rooms.

More than 30 participants will take advantage of the Library Center’s popularity as a neutral gathering spot to provide information about a broad range of community resources.

“This year’s Ozarks Wellness Fair will focus on healthy lifestyles,” said Library Center Reference Librarian Aleah Weltha. “Our vendors will cover a broad range of mental, physical and spiritual options.”

Okay, so what’s healthy about ballroom dancing? Relationship building, physical fitness, therapy—you can get it all from dancing lessons, says Andy Walls, who, with Anne, his wife of one year and four months, owns Dance With Me, a studio that specializes in the social and therapeutic aspects of dance, not performance.

As for horseback riding, the natural movement of the horse’s gait is a form of therapy that strengthens muscles and improves balance, says Kent Crumpley of Therapeutic Riding of the Ozarks.

Family Pharmacy will offer free flu shots and Oxford Home Health Care will provide bone density screenings. Christian Health Care East will monitor your blood pressure and the School of Massage Arts will give 5- to 10-minute chair massages. Want to see a non-bloody mock operation? A contingent from the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses will do just that.

It’s obvious from the offerings, says Weltha, that the Ozarks Wellness Fair “is an eclectic mix of information that can do you some good.”

Jeanne C. Duffey, the community relations director for the Springfield-Greene County Library District, can be reached at jeanned@thelibrary.org.