If you haven't yet shared your views about healthy living with Live Well Saline County, you'd better hurry. The coalition's survey is closing on Wednesday.
"Thank you to everyone who has participated in the community physical activity, nutrition, and wellness survey. If you haven't participated yet we will be closing the survey on March 10th. We would like to get as much input as possible," Daniel Craig, cancer outreach coordinator for the Tammy Walker Cancer Center and a member of the coalition, told Salina Post.
To take the survey, click here.
Live Well Saline County created the five-minute online survey to gather Saline County citizens' perceptions about opportunities for physical activity, healthy eating, and commercial tobacco control in the community. The information gathered in this survey will assist Live Well Saline County's efforts in ensuring that community members have healthy options from which to choose.
"Your responses to this survey will be compiled with other responses and will never directly identify your individual response. We are gathering some demographic information to ensure that we have heard from a broad representation of individuals in the community. You can choose to skip questions that you don't feel comfortable answering and you can stop at any time," Craig explained.
The survey is part of Live Well Saline County's participation in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas' (BCBSKS) Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative, the largest community grant program ever funded by BCBSKS. Since the initiative began in 2016, BCBSKS has donated more than $11.7 million in grants and assistance to communities throughout Kansas. The Pathways program was created to inspire long-lasting, community-wide health and wellness in communities across Kansas.
In July 2020, Live Well Saline County was announced as one of 24 grantees of the BCBSKS initiative. The grant funding includes a coordination grant of $200,000 for each community. In addition, Saline County will have the opportunity to apply for non-competitive implementation grants amounting to $300,000, for a total of up to $500,000.
Live Well Saline County designated the Tammy Walker Cancer Center as the fiduciary agent. Craig serves as the grant manager.
“The Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant will enable us to bring everyone together so rather than doing a lot of great individual programs and efforts we can work more collaboratively as a community,” Craig said in July. “Being part of the Pathways to a Healthy Kansas cohort will provide opportunities for us to learn from other communities and share things that have helped us be successful.”
The Pathways grant addresses the three behaviors of focus – physical activity, commercial tobacco prevention, and healthy eating – that reduce risk for serious health conditions though six areas of work, or pathways. The pathways include Community & Social Context, Neighborhood & Physical Environment, Food, Healthcare, Education, and Economic Stability, and strive to improve conditions that are the drivers of health in a community.
About Live Well Saline County
Live Well Saline County began in 2009 when a group of community members came together to identify ways to partner to address chronic disease prevention in Saline County. Live Well Saline County has active participants from a variety of organizations with a common interest in healthy living.
The coalition is comprised of representatives from the following organizations: Tammy Walker Cancer Center, City of Salina, Salina Regional Health Center, Salina Family YMCA, Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina Area United Way, Saline County Health Department, CKF Addiction Treatment, K-State Research & Extension Central District, and Prairieland Market.
Live Well Saline County partners with many additional organizations in the community to implement programs to improve the health and well-being of the community.
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Feature photo courtesy the Live Well Saline County Facebook page.