Pathways to a Healthier You
About Us
To ensure county-wide representation and participation, a committee was formed of individuals who encompass the diversity of Jefferson and Stephens Counties. The Pathways to a Healthier You ("Pathways") are comprised of business and industry, local government, coalitions, education, community and civic organizations, public health, health care, and other entities working together. Committee members represent the communities of Bray, Central High, Comanche, Duncan, Empire City, Marlow, and Velma. On March 19, 2013, the committee adopted a vision statement to reflect the true progress and personal accountability they hope residents and the counties as a whole will embrace. This vision will steer future efforts to build richness in health. Pathways vision is a county where citizens are aware of and inspired to live a safe and healthy life while maximizing resources to provide and encourage healthy residents.
Our Community-Based Efforts
Every three years, an initiative to assess the health needs in collaboration with the local county health department and local partnerships is conducted. Working through the Community Health Needs Assessment ("CHNA") process, Duncan Regional Hospital and several other community agencies realized a greater need for community coordination and communication on health, social and other projects. Pathways and its members will utilize the CHNA to help guide and direct programs to improve the health of all citizens. For more information on Pathways and its projects, goals, and vision, please visit our website pathwaystoahealthieryou.com.
Pathways Youth Coalition
To effectively reduce underage substance abuse and create lasting change, we believe in involving youth themselves. Therefore, the Drug-Free Community (DFC) grant focuses on youth involvement and leadership development.
The DFC believes in a youth-led adult-guided structure. The youth are given a seat at the table and a voice to have a stronger impact in creating lasting change. This youth-adult partnership drives prevention strategies to reduce underage drinking and youth marijuana use in their community. The youth are involved in each step of the strategic prevention framework (assessment, capacity, planning, implementation, and evaluation).
The Pathways Youth Coalition recruits high school students (grades 9-12th) to join the coalition. These young people will become change advocates on the local, state, and national levels. To learn more about this coalition, please visit the Pathways Youth Coalition web page.
"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Membership
Our meetings are open to residents of Jefferson and Stephens Counties. If you would like to participate in our prevention efforts, please join us at our meetings. We meet on the third Tuesday of each month at ten o'clock at Duncan Regional Hospital located at 1407 N. Whisenant Drive, Duncan, Oklahoma 73533. We meet in Conference Room 1.