Getting Further Faster #1 (2021)
The Lancaster County Health & Wellness Commission (HWC), the Upper Midlands Rural Health Network (UMRHN), and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) were one of 42 groups nationwide awarded funding by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was administered by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). The Year 1 rapid retrospective evaluation of GFF provided a better understanding of how multi-sector community partnerships/coalitions are advancing health equity and improving chronic disease conditions by addressing the social determinants of health (SDoH) in the following domains: the built environment, clinical-community linkages, food and nutrition security, social connectedness, and tobacco-free policies.
The purpose of the past project was to document how Lancaster County became the first county in SC to be 100% tobacco-free, meaning all municipalities, the public school district, and all colleges and universities now have broad tobacco-free policies. This success was built on the original foundation set by HWC in 2013 when Lancaster became the first county in South Carolina to adopt a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance that covers indoor workplaces, restaurants, and bars. Through historic document review and key informant interviews, Irini Guda McCarthy (HWC), Kristin Slocum (SC DHEC), and Karen Nichols (UMRHN) compiled this narrative and timeline to show how this was accomplished so that other communities may look at our work to help them achieve their tobacco-free goals.
Getting Further Faster #2 (2022)
HWC / UMRHN / SC DHEC is one of only 15 groups nationwide to be awarded funding in round 2! Read our full application here! The Year 2 funded communities will participate in a series of evaluation, training, and technical assistance (TTA) activities designed to inform the development of promising practices for improving health outcomes and health equity by addressing the five GFF SDOH domains mentioned above. In Year 2, funded communities will be expected to participate in a more focused evaluation effort that will build on the prior year’s work. The Year 2 evaluation will take a deeper dive on topics including the cost and sustainability of the partnerships’ SDOH initiatives, the specific roles health departments play in supporting partnerships’ SDOH work, collaboration with clinical delivery systems, and the role partnerships play in helping to build community resilience. Funded communities will be expected to build the sustainability of their coalitions/partnerships towards improving health outcomes and health equity through SDOH approaches by actively participating in the project’s training and technical assistance. Click here for a document that provides an overview of all sessions.Funding has been built into the budget to compensate each of you for the extra time you put into this project. The funding can go to you personally, to your organization, or be donated back to HWC.
There are seven monthly 60-to-90-minute hands-on workshops and one closeout webinar. All are scheduled for 1:00pm-2:30pm
Separate registration links will be sent for each event. You MUST register for each event below in order to receive the Zoom information. The dates and topics for these are:
May 12 – Community Engagement
June 9 – Communicating Impact
July 14 – Messaging Lab
August 11 – Strategies for Policy Development
September 8 – Strategies for Sustainability Planning
October 13 – Policy Planning Lab
November 10 – Sustainability Planning Lab
December 8 – Closeout Webinar – Each person must register themselves individually because they take attendance. Registration link https://mathematica-org.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcuGuqDgvHnb6667IOreTMpD77vKiqZo
In addition, there were a series of 1:1 training / technical assistance activities. Sessions were held on May 20, July 26, September 20, November 14, and November 30.
We are also working on a printed communication piece and a video! If you are interested in either one, contact Karen on Kristin.
Meetings for the communications project:
October 11 @ 3:00pm
October 25 @ 1:00pm
November 3 @ 3:00pm
Individual prep calls the week of November 7-11
On-site filming will be on December 13, 2022
Check out the final video here!