Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Selects LiveWell Shawnee County to return as Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Community in Shawnee County.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) announces it has selected the LiveWell Shawnee County coalition in Shawnee County, along with 18 other communities as grantees for its third phase of the Pathways to a Healthy Kansas (Pathways) initiative. BCBSKS will be partnering with these community coalitions to improve healthy eating, active living, commercial tobacco prevention and mental health.

Since the Pathways initiative began in 2016, BCBSKS has facilitated 748 grants/projects in communities throughout Kansas, including Shawnee County. The Pathways program was created to inspire long-lasting, community-wide health and well-being in communities across Kansas.

“We’ve seen the commitment from LiveWell Shawnee County and know they are ready to continue the work to improve the health and well-being of the communities they serve,” said Matt All, President/CEO of BCBSKS. “For more than 80 years, we have been dedicated to helping not only our members, but all Kansans live better, healthier lives. Through our Pathways initiative, we are helping remove barriers to accessing healthy foods, increasing physical activity, preventing commercial tobacco use and improving mental health. We are thrilled to continue this program with our new and returning Pathways grantees and can’t wait to see the difference they make in their communities.”

Each Pathways community will receive coordination assistance from BCBSKS to get started and, in addition, organizations within Shawnee County will have the opportunity to apply for non-competitive implementation grants to fund projects that will help reach the coalition goals for the initiative.

“The Pathways initiative has provided our community with the tools and resources needed to take our work to the next level,” said Sarah Karns, Director of LiveWell Shawnee County. “We are looking forward to partnering with other organizations to help make Shawnee County a healthier place for all.”

The Pathways initiative combines community-wide, evidence-based solutions and practices to help Kansas communities improve active living, healthy eating, behavioral health and commercial tobacco prevention and is structured around five pathways that require collaboration across a community. These pathways include economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhoods and built environment, and social and community context. To learn more about Pathways, visit bcbsks.com/blue-health-initiatives/pathways.