Importance of efficacy among African-American Christians in HIV/HIDS ministry participation

Health education research and interventions designed to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African Americans conducted in churches and communities of faith are suitable settings. Today's church-based health service programs have an unprecedented number of federal funding opportunities (The White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, n.d.). Therefore, an emphasis on assessing the church congregants' motivations, especially perceived efficacy to make a difference in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, for involvement in HIV/AIDS ministry is critical to the success or failure of any faith-based HIV/AIDS programming. Three hundred and seventy-six African-American members from six Black churches in the Washington, DC area completed a self-administered survey, The Black Christians' HIV/AIDS Survey – Revised (BCHAS-R) (Coleman, 2006), which explored several motivational factors believed to contribute to African-American Christian congregants' involvement in HIV/AIDS ministry. Among these factors, perceived (self and congregational) efficacy (Bandura, 1969) was hypothesized to be significantly related to participation in HIV/AIDS ministry. Survey data were analyzed and study hypotheses were tested by calculating ANOVAs to test the hypothesized relationships. Results from these analyses found that perceived efficacy was statistically related to individual HIV/AIDS ministry participation only. However, research literature suggests that perceptions of congregational efficacy are also related to congregational HIV/AIDS ministry participation (Bandura, 2003). Based on these findings, suggestions to public health professionals include tailoring programs specific to church congregants' highest efficacy areas to maximize the interests, skills, and expertise of potential volunteers and developing HIV/AIDS ministries based on areas of service which congregants are most efficacious as a starting point.