The TSET Healthy Living Program serving Kingfisher County is asking for your input as it works toward creating healthier environments in Kingfisher and Hennessey.

Local residents can offer their opinions, concerns and insights by taking a community health needs assessment survey, said Blair Coughlan, lead coordinator of the TSET Healthy Living Program grant in Kingfisher County.

“Your experiences and opinions on health environments in our communities really matter and we want to hear from you,” Blair Coughlan said.

The survey can be accessed via the QR code that accompanies this article or by visiting http://bit.ly/tsetkingfisher

Improving the health of residents in targeted geographic locations throughout Oklahoma is a priority for a new TSET HLP fiveyear cycle that started on July 1, 2020.

The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) awarded the grants to 35 lead agencies, including Kingfisher County Health Department, in spring 2020.

This grant’s first year is dedicated to gathering health-related data from U.S. Census information and other research-based sources, and by seeking local input from community partners and this health needs survey.

That information will be used to create a localized data-driven plan to improve the long-term health of area residents, said Coughlan.

“Hearing about your experiences with access to healthy foods and physical activity and to tobacco-free environments through this survey will help us create a comprehensive wellness plan that fits and works best locally in Kingfisher County,” Blair Coughlan said.

In recent years, TSET had invested nearly $1.3 million in Kingfisher and Blaine counties during the Healthy Living Program’s first cycle, which worked with city, school and business leaders and community organizations to adopt tobacco-free and wellness policies and improve health environments, and another $21,000 to Kingfisher County schools and communities through Healthy Communities and Healthy Schools Incentive Grants.

TSET also supports life-saving research at the Stephenson Cancer Center, the TSET Health Promotion Research Center and the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research.

Studies show that TSET funding over the years has contributed to saving at least 42,000 lives and more than $1.2 billion in direct medical costs in Oklahoma, according to TSET data.

For more information about the community needs survey or the TSET Healthy Living Program contact Coughlan at blairc health. ok. gov or (405) 375-3008.