Longstanding evidence suggests a salutary effect of religious factors on health and well-being, and faith-based health promotion interventions have been on the rise in the last decade. Data presented here were collected as part of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership (ESVHWP), developed in conjunction with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center and funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ESVHWP is a community-based participatory research project addressing issues related to the health of women and children on Detroit's East Side. A two-stage simple random sampling process was used to identify participants for the community-based survey, which was designed by representatives from community based organizations, health service providers and academic partners at the outset of the project. This analysis is limited to African American respondents (n=678) who met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Religious involvement was assessed by a multidimensional construct consisting of subjective religiosity (importance of faith in one's daily life), organizational religious involvement (frequency of church attendance), and nonorganizational religious involvement (frequency of prayer). Preliminary findings show that depressive symptoms are negatively associated with the frequency of church attendance, and that this association remains significant when controlling for demographic variables. In addition, the frequency with which church members receive help from fellow church members is a mediator in the association between frequency of church attendance and depressive symptoms. Implications of these and other related findings for disease prevention and health promotion will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Articulate the dimensions critical to the measurement of religious involvement in public health research. 2. Demonstrate aspects of religious involvement that are significantly associated with health outcomes. 3. Apply research findings to the design of public health intervention programs
Keywords: Religion, Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.