Sadie Taylor Practices Community Harm Reduction Strategies in Kentucky

Sadie Taylor was pursuing a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Information and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Louisville when she served as a Region IV PHTC Pathways to Practice Scholar in the spring of 2023. She chose to intern with the Franklin County Health Department (FCHD) located in Frankfort, KY, which “serves a mixture of both urban and rural community members within central Kentucky.”

During her field placement, Sadie taught sex education at local elementary schools, helped facilitate biometric screening events, completed intake and distribution of supplies for the Syringe Exchange program, compiled youth engagement events for the Just Say Yes program, and participated in professional development training and events.

According to Sadie, the field placement experience provided the opportunity to learn about harm reduction, preventative services on the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels as well as the various roles of a local health department.

“Before this placement, I was thoroughly unaware of the broad range of services offered by the FCHD, and the systemic and financial barriers each of these programs face when coming to fruition. After working at this placement for several months, I can now say that I am very likely to end up back at a local health department upon graduating. I appreciate how the work that is done at the FCHD is hands-on and tangible; you have the ability to receive feedback and evaluate the impact of a project firsthand.”