The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #59800

Mark J. DeHaven, PhD, Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 6263 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9067, 214-648-1046, Mark.Dehaven@UTSouthwestern.edu, Jarett Berry, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9030, and Jim Walton, DO, Church Health Ministries, 801 North Peak Street, Dallas, TX 75246.

Objections to Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) participating in government-sponsored health program funding tend to focus in three areas: challenges to the effectiveness of the care delivered, concerns over the possible religious content of the care delivered, and the separation between church and state. While the church and state objection awaits resolution in the courts, previous research by the authors indicates that objections over program content are unfounded. That is, health services delivered through FBOs do provide effective primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive care, and the clinical care delivered that is delivered tends to be "purely clinical" and no different from care delivered in secular settings. Reasons in favor of delivering health care in the FBO setting are: the public health safety net is severely stained and cannot meet the current level of need, FBO's may be natural allies who share the same concerns as those in public health -- especially related to inequity and injustice, and that the United States is a country of believers who acknowledge the relationship between faith and healing. In the third part of their study testing the "Great FBO Hypothesis," the authors will present findings from "Project Access: Caring for the Uninsured," a community-based participatory research project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Findings will be presented related to the effectiveness of the faith-collaborative model on reducing emergency room and hospital utilization, and on increasing the delivery of preventive services related to cancer, diabetes, and mental illness.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe and evaluate the arguments on the effectiveness and religious content of the Faith-based Organization’s (FBO’s) role and contribution to the system of health-care.
• Determine the effectiveness of a faith-collaborative model on reducing emergency room and hospital utilization.
• Apply the model of faith-based community health care to increase the delivery of preventive services related to cancer, diabetes, and mental illness in their own communities.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Faith Community

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.