Pathways to Freedom
Success Stories
"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 to Freedom 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 to Freedom booklets was not
wasted, the National ACS office produced colorful six-panel Pathways to Freedom
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 to Freedom 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, 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 and 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 Pathways to Freedom 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 to Freedom allowed African Americans
to "connect the dots" and the black community became advocates for tobacco
prevention and control.
Page last updated 02/28/2007
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