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"No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come."
~ Congolese proverb
Here are some of the ways that the Pathways to Freedom program
has been used in communities around the country over the past decade.
Community Health Center
A community health center used Pathways to Freedom for communicating quit smoking information to non-English speaking and
low-literate patients because the information was explained in pictures as
well as words. Explaining the information using the illustrations helped
smokers remember key information like setting a quit day and avoiding
smoking triggers.
Telephone Quitline
The Quit Today! Project funded by the National Cancer Institute trained
telephone counselors on the 1-800-4-CANCER information phones to use
Pathways to Freedom with African American smokers who called. The
counselors marked specific pages with post-it notes to remind the person
trying to quit of information that had been discussed during the telephone
call.
Work Site
A worksite cessation program with a large number of African American
employees used Pathways to Freedom in addition to the more generic
smoking cessation program that had been used in the past. The Pathways to
Freedom guide and the short video were available for workers to take
home and use at their leisure.
Faith Community
Ministers throughout the country have matched pages in Pathways to
Freedom with quotations from the Bible to remind
parishioners of the importance of having a spiritual basis for quitting
smoking.
Women's Group
A women's group in California had several members who wanted to quit
smoking. They decided to use Pathways to Freedom as the basis of a
game. One member, who was a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, made
up cards with questions about smoking and African Americans. The answers
were in the Pathways guide. Playing the game helped people trying to
quit learn more about the dangers of tobacco use and the best ways to quit.
Voluntary Health Organization
The American Cancer Society(ACS) used Pathways to Freedom as part of its
outreach efforts to the African American community. To conserve costs and
make sure that its limited supply of Pathways booklets was not
wasted, the National ACS office produced colorful six-panel Pathways
brochures that units could disseminate to family and friends of smokers.
Then anyone who was interested in quitting could call their local ACS to get
a free guide mailed to them.
Community Coalition
In South Carolina, the Pathways to Freedom guide was used by minority
health coalitions as a catalyst for statewide organizing of African
Americans around tobacco use prevention. The pages in Pathways on
tobacco industry targeting of African American communities helped engage
various community groups and became the centerpiece of a tobacco issues fair
with rap sessions, dance and drama presentations, and a poster contest on
tobacco use prevention in the African American community.
Health Professionals
The National Medical Association — which represents African American
physicians — partnered with the CDC's Office on Smoking & Health in a media
campaign that featured Pathways to Freedom. Public service
advertisements on radio and television as well as billboards featured images
of black leaders who had died from smoking-related diseases. The campaign
educated the public as well as physicians about the availability of the
Pathways as a resource to help African Americans quit
smoking.
Community-Based Organization
A community-based organization associated with the Charles Drew Medical
Center in Los Angeles, California, used the information in Pathways to
Freedom to educate community residents about the connection between
tobacco industry target marketing, tobacco industry philanthropy, and the
health effects of smoking. Tobacco companies expected the black community to
oppose anti-tobacco legislation. Pathways allowed African Americans
to "connect the dots" and the black community became advocates for tobacco
prevention and control.
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