Article By Andrew Chandler, MPH

Over the past 5 months, we have been burning up the road traveling across South Carolina to the Upstate, the Pee Dee and the Lowcountry supporting our five Blueprint for Health communities to improve health outcomes within their county.  Located in Barnwell, Dillon, Lancaster, Lee, and Oconee counties, these Blueprint communities represent multi-sector coalitions within their county where their members are interested in working together to address social challenges in their community that are ultimately impacting health outcomes.

The communities are halfway through the leadership training and have had numerous opportunities to expand their leadership skills and abilities, but now it is time to put these skills into practice. In the coming months, the Blueprint communities will have the opportunity to take a deeper dive into social issues or challenges that have been identified within their communities. Selected topics from the communities range from poverty, economic development to food systems, access to health care, and education. The next three sessions the Blueprint communities will discuss how these different topics impact their communities and their wellbeing through relevant data and insight from local and state experts.  After these sessions, the Blueprint communities will work together within their counties to complete a community project that will address their selected social issue(s).

To learn more about the Blueprint for Health Program, click here.