265378 Abundant Life Health Ministries Initiative: An Academic-Faith Communities Partnership to Reduce Health Disparities

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Michelle Moseley, MA, CHES , Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
Rena Pasick, DrPH , Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Priscilla Banks , Pasick Group - Outreach, UCSF HDF Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA
Wilma Batiste , Faith Communities Committee, UCSF HDF Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA
Marion DePuit, RN, BSN , Community Health Alliance Faith and Health Partnership, John Muir, Concord, CA
Marcus Lorenzo Penn, MD , Radiation Oncology, UCSF, San Francisco, CA
Project Description: African Americans experience disproportionate burden of cancer incidence and mortality. The UCSF Cancer Center's Faith Communities Committee mission is to reduce the burden of cancer in African American communities through an academic-faith communities partnership titled the Abundant Life Health Ministries Initiative (ALHMI). ALHMI fosters the establishment and expansion of church health ministries to promote health through culturally-appropriate, research tested interventions for predominantly African American churches. ALMHI components include: outreach, education and training programs, ongoing technical assistance and mini-grant funding to church health ministries. Preliminary Project Results: Established the ALHMI as a model to leverage resources for outreach, training, technical assistance, mini-grant funding; and a mechanism to facilitate the adoption or development of one or more research tested programs; 31 churches in the San Francisco Bay Area have signed on, 26 churches adopting Body & Soul, a proven nutrition intervention program , 4 churches participating in the development of a prostate cancer education program and 7 churches participating in the development of a family history breast cancer education program. Next steps: Monitor and track implementation of research-tested cancer education interventions delivered through church health ministries. Develop a research agenda and plans to secure funding to implement rigorous evaluation of the ALHMI model and use evaluation data to determine improvements, future directions and impact on health disparities. This presentation will describe the UCSF Abundant Life Health Ministries Initiative components, outcomes, lessons learned, and next steps.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the Abundant Life Health Ministries Initiative and name the components. 2. Identify the Abundant Life Health Ministries Initiative faith-based cancer education intervention programs to address cancer health disparities.

Keywords: Faith Community, Community Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a UCSF staff member, Community Programs/Training & Evaluation Coordinator working on ALHMI project.
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.