1. SHAPING KENTUCKY’S
FUTURE
A COMMUNITY GUIDE TO REDUCING OBESITY
LOCAL SUCCESS STORIES

2. Why tell your story?
“We have difficulty
remembering…abstractions, but we can more
easily remember a good story. Stories give life to
past experience. Stories make the events in
memory memorable to others and ourselves.
This is one of the reasons why people like to tell
stories.”
–Roger Schank,
Tell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence

3. Storytelling As Best Practice
If your goal is to educate, persuade, or simply
connect in a meaningful way with a particular
audience, storytelling is the single most powerful
communications tool available to you.
--Andy Goodman

4. Best practices for reducing obesity at
the community level
Sometimes it is more effective to
highlight a cause other than health, such
as economics, education or community
building.

6. The Hopkins County Jail has
reduced food costs while
providing fresh fruits and
vegetables and job skills to
inmates.
A Culture of Wellness
The Hopkins County government’s wellness
program improves employees’ quality of life
and saves money for the taxpayers.

7. The Biggest Bargain
‘Breastfeeding,’ says one advocate, ‘gives
the biggest bang for the buck in the health
care world.’

8. We Can Get There From Here with Complete
Streets
“It’s amazing how much the business sector has told us
that it’s the bike trails, hiking and recreation that set Berea
apart. It is hard to overestimate how much this kind of
infrastructure brings to a community.”

9. A Healthy Start
A Story Adds
Context to
Your
Message

10. Mow It And They Will Come
The Winchester Traveling Trail is a low cost physical activity.
Advice for other
communities
Selling points for
initiative
Resources
Contact
information

11. “At first it seems like
you’re taking away from
the academics, but
Healthy Monday actually
strengthens
the academics. You don’t
waste as much time with
kids being
off task.”

12. Results
 Local Media
 Connections
 Replication
This report will be a success when the stories it
tells inspire others to say, “If people can do that
in Buckhorn, Lexington, Covington and
Hopkinsville, we can do it here!

13. Questions?
Elaine Russell MS RD
Kentucky Department for Public Health
Obesity Prevention Program
www.fitky.org