Tioga County Partnership for Community Health

The Partnership is home to educate the entire community about the importance of quality early care and education experiences for young children. The initiative also connects providers of early care and education with school districts to increase the ease of transition for children from preschool settings to kindergarten. TECET also partners with the Pennsylvania Departments of Public Welfare and Education to educate the community about state-funded opportunities for parents, schools, and the general community to ensure that young children get off to a good start in their education journey.

Accomplishments:

• Organize an annual teacher panel discussion for kindergarten teachers and day care practitioners to discuss kindergarten transitioning topics.
• Distribute information about quality early childhood education, including information on Keystone STARS and PA Promise for Children, at community events such as Children’s Health Fair and the Tioga County Fair.
• Distribute kindergarten calendars to each elementary school in Tioga County for parents at registration time.
• Organize PA One Book readings for day care sites.

Communities That Care (CTC) is a grassroots initiative whose mission is to mobilize our communities to build strong, positive alliances that achieve the best possible environment for our kids to grow into healthy, involved adults.

CTC promotes effective collaboration between schools, health and human service agencies, government, law enforcement, local business, faith organizations, and the communities they serve. The goals are to:

• strengthen families
• create school and community partnerships to support the development of elementary students
• empower middle and high school youth for success
• ensure economic security for families and children

Accomplishments:

• Bring together representatives of schools, probation, county prevention education, faith community, and others to work together to improve the quality of life for families and youth.
• Conduct the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) every two years to collect data on risk and protective factors affecting youth and measure progress in improving those factors.
• Provide school districts with curricula, materials, and other support to implement evidence-based programming to address the identified risk and protective factors.

Drug-Free Communities is a federal effort to support coalitions of youth; parents; media; law enforcement; school officials; faith-based organizations; fraternal organizations; state, local, and tribal government agencies; healthcare professionals; and other community representatives. The Drug-Free Communities Support Program enables the coalitions to strengthen their coordination and prevention efforts, encourage citizen participation in substance abuse reduction efforts, and disseminate information about effective programs.

The Partnership has served as the DFC coalition since 2004. The coalition has integrated the work of Communities That Care, the ATOD work group, the Tobacco/Asthma Coalition, and aspects of the Steps initiative to create a more holistic approach to substance abuse prevention in the county.

Accomplishments:

• Working in conjunction with CTC to conduct the PAYS every two years.
• Using the data generated by the PAYS to determine gaps in services and determine ways to close those gaps.

The Partnership is one of four sites in the Pennsylvania to pilot a dual approach to preventing underage drinking in rural areas. The initiative combines increased law enforcement with prevention efforts with youth. This initiative, unlike the rest of the Partnership's work, targets the borough of Wellsboro only. The reception of the Wellsboro middle and high schools to the prevention activities has been so successful, the Partnership is securing funding to expand those activities to the other two school districts in the county.

Accomplishments:

• Increased police patrols during school and community activities.
• The purchase of equipment for the Wellsboro Police Department to use to increase the effectiveness of their enforcement efforts, such as bicycles, night vision goggles, and specialized video equipment.
• Training for police officers in controlled party dispersal, fake ID detection, and source investigation.
• A series of alcohol-free events at the middle school and speakers with experience in the consequences of alcohol abuse for the high school.

The Partnership has worked for many years on several aspects of tobacco prevention. Reducing tobacco use among youth and pregnant women, making cessation supports available for smokers who wish to quit, and advocating for clean indoor air in restaurants, public parks and other places of business, are the main goals of the Tobacco/Asthma Coalition. The Partnership served as the primary contractor for tobacco cessation and control for the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2001 until last fall, when the state changed from local to regional primary contractors. The Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania, the new primary contractor for the north central region, has contracted with the Partnership to continue to provide the services we have been providing without interruption.

Through the Steps initiative, the Partnership also works on assisting work sites and restaurants with creating and implementing policies to become smoke-free, limiting the exposure of customers and employees to second-hand smoke. The Partnership also combines the resources of CTC and DFC to integrate all of its tobacco prevention into a more holistic message of healthy living.

Accomplishments:

• Working with Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital to become a smoke-free campus.
• Increasing the number of restaurants and work sites that are smoke-free.
• Decreasing tobacco use among youth.

Steps to a HealthierPA – Tioga County is an integrated chronic disease prevention model initiated from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It differs from traditional approaches in the following ways:

• Prevention - Many chronic diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and heart disease, have the same risk factors. Those risk factors include physical inactivity and poor nutrition. Step seeks to prevent chronic diseases through the awareness of these risk factors and the promotion of healthy behaviors.
• Small Steps - Rather than promoting major behavior changes that can become overwhelming and then abandoned for more familiar habits, Steps seeks to emphasize the positive, cumulative effect of small changes over time. Small steps can make a difference.
• Integration - The small step, preventive message of Steps is applicable to people across the lifespan in a number of settings: schools, worksites, healthcare, homes, and communities. The messages and environments should be supportive of healthy choices wherever we live, work, and play.
• Cooperative - Steps to a HealthierUS is a Cooperative Agreement, meaning that the Centers for Disease Control remains an active partner with the Steps grantees in the numerous communities they affect all over the US. The disease prevention-health promotion partners for Steps to a HealthierPA - Tioga County include: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, The Northcentral Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center, and the Tioga County Partnership for Community Health. Visit www.tiogasteps.org for more information.

Accomplishments:

• Conducted Steps Youth Survey in 2007
• Established county-wide school health council
• Assisted schools with local wellness policies
• Promoting worksite wellness and practices that make environments healthier
• Provided funding for Shape Up campaign, Shape Up Summer Recreation, and collaborative outdoor events at Hills Creek State Park

Shape Up Tioga County is a 10 week physical activity campaign incorporating individual goal setting, personal selection of physical activity type, tracking of activity time, and support from family, friends, and/or co-workers. The purpose of the campaign is to bring the importance of regular physical activity to the minds and lifestyles of Tioga County residents in the hopes that healthy habits will be established and maintained during and after the 10 week sessions. For more information, visit www.shapeuptiogacounty.com.

Accomplishments:

• Conducted Shape Up School Challenge
• Increased community participation
• Promoting Shape Up at two worksites
• Partnered with DCNR PA State Parks (Hills Creek) for a successful wrap-up event in 2007
• Linking participants with a comprehensive list of physical activity opportunities