Health Makes Cents: Models for Promoting Health in Kentucky

Lexington, KY, 2004

The health status of Kentuckians has reached a crisis point. Obesity, inactivity and poor diet contribute to costly and destructive chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, cancer, dental problems and depression. Kentucky faces an added challenge with a high percentage of smokers—the highest in the nation—along with the burden of smoking-related illnesses such as asthma and lung cancer. One-third of Kentuckians (compared to 23 percent nationally) smoke cigarettes. Nearly two-thirds of Kentucky's adults are either overweight or obese, and 17 percent of children ages 2, 3 and 4 are already overweight. Only 29 percent of Kentucky adults get the recommended amount of physical activity on a weekly basis, and only 22 percent report that they eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Kentucky significantly lags behind U.S. health status indicators.

Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky created a community-media collaboration to elevate the value Kentuckians place on health; identify, spotlight and bolster health promotion models proven by data to be successful (Models that Work); and inform and engage public dialogue about health and its economic value to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

KET produced a 13-part television series focusing on Models that Work and providing mechanisms for viewer action. Material from the series were adapted to create a Healthy Lifestyle Outreach Toolkit containing video modules and training resources to enable replication of model programs.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, established in 2001 to meet the unmet health care needs of Kentucky, conducted pre- and post-project health attitudes assessments, implemented the Models that Work solicitation effort, helped to develop the Healthy Lifestyle Outreach Toolkit, and provided significant input, along with other key stakeholders, in creating a comprehensive long-term plan to address health issues in Kentucky with innovative use of KET as a statewide community-concerned media partner.

Awards:

Kentucky Educational TV Round Four

$15,000
— Kentucky Obesity Prevention Project