174230 Congregational Health Assessments: Identifying Congregation Health Priorities to Enhance Academic-Community Partnerships

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 8:30 AM

Melissa A. Green, MPH , Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Carlton Boyd, MPH , Institute for Health, Social, and Community Research, Shaw University, Raleigh, NC
Moses V. Goldmon, EdD , Shaw University, Raleigh, NC
Michelle Hayes, BA , Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Alice Ammerman, DrPH, RD , Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc , TraCS Community Engagement Core, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Timothy Carey, MD , Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Daniel L. Howard, PhD , The Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN
Paul Godley, MD, PhD , Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Background: Black churches have traditionally played a significant role in the African American community. Increasingly, African American churches are recognized as an important setting for health interventions and research by researchers and health professionals. We describe the process of developing and implementing a Congregational Health Assessment (CHA) to elicit the health priorities of church members. Methods: The Data Collection/Data Distribution Center (DC2) network includes 18 Black churches with a commitment to community-academic collaborations that benefit African American communities. After endorsement from DC2 church leadership, church liaisons were trained to collect data using the self-administered written assessment with adult congregants. Results: Fifteen churches participated in the CHA. Collectively, 1,326 congregants across the churches completed the CHA. Pastors and church liaisons facilitated the implementation at their churches. Variations in implementation process at each site are described. Individualized CHA reports were compiled and delivered to each participating church. Reports identify general demographics, health priorities of congregation members and their family members, and perceived community problems. Desired health information and preferred method of dissemination are also reported. Priority health areas include: hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease. Conclusion: Church-academic partnership must address the health priorities of congregations. The CHA provides a means of working with churches to identify health priorities so that future research can be responsive to congregational needs, thus increasing congregant participation, enhancing health ministries, and building synergistic community-academic partnerships.

Learning Objectives:
1. To identify methods to elicit health priorities of members of Black churches 2. To explain the process of engaging Black churches in community-based participatory research

Keywords: African American, Faith Community

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I coordinated implementation and evaluation activities, training, and data collection.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.