Development of the Black Christians' HIV/AIDS Survey-Revised: A scale to assess African-American Christians' motivational factors for HIV/AIDS ministry participation

The research literature related to HIV/AIDS programming in the Black church has shown a primary focus on individual motivational factors for HIV/AIDS prevention, but no known studies have been conducted that examine factors which motivate people to participate in HIV/AIDS prevention interventions or helping services. The desire to explore what motivational factors contribute to African-American Christian congregants' involvement in HIV/AIDS ministry is what has directed the examination of a specific series of motivational concepts that no other research has previously detailed. The development of the Black Christians' HIV/AIDS Survey – Revised (BCHAS-R), was developed to assess eight health behavior and motivation-related variables. The BCHAS-R was piloted before being administered to 375 African-American adults who were members of predominantly Black Christian churches in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Internal reliability of the survey was assessed by calculating the Cronbach alpha survey instrument scores for the pilot (α=0.956) and study population (α=0.937). Validity was established using a panel of experts. Finally, survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVAs. In an environment where few persons are usually responsible for the planning and implementation of a ministry, church HIV/AIDS ministries will benefit from using the BCHAS-R to plan or revise HIV/AIDS programming. The primary benefit is tailoring these ministries to maximize the interests, skills, and experience of those providing the services, which energizes the ministry volunteers and increases the likelihood for sustainability and growth.