Supporting cross-disciplinary FBO collaborations to promote social justice in public health care delivery

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) that are engaged in public health and relief initiatives are commonly faulted for ideological assumptions that patronize recipients as charity objects and for failing to engage a human rights perspective that ensures entitlements and equitable capacity building. This is particularly evident in the delivery of food. Outraged at the mission-sponsored helicopter “bread drops” documented in a “Democracy Now!” video interview with earthquake victims, for example, one Haitian community member said, “They should have given to the responsible on the ground to distribute to the rest of the people here, and not when they go back up in the air, throw the bread out like they were throwing bones to dogs.” (http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/22/t_trembl_journey_to_the_epicenter). Such approaches demonstrate not only disrespect for human dignity but also ignorance of the dominant human rights and justice language that defines faith-based narratives regarding poverty relief in all three Western monotheistic traditions, specifically for health equity. This presentation will begin with a summary of where such language occurs in late antique health-related texts that influence the practical development of FBO-sponsored health care delivery into the present. Second, it will outline principles common in non-sectarian public health activities that may intersect with the work of FBOs. Finally, it will suggest how public health care providers might draw on the newly emerging research on such sources in ethical tradition to promote health equity in cross-disciplinary collaboration that advances the practical realization of human rights.