Exploring motivations and expectations of churches in public health partnerships

Background: The church is an acknowledged means to implement health programs in the African-American community, and Black pastors have traditionally been leaders of their congregations and in the community at large. This study looks at faith/public health collaborations from the view of the Black pastor, to gain more insight into the faith community's partnerships with public health organizations. Methods: Pastors of Black churches in the San Francisco Bay area that are involved in health promotion activities were recruited for the study, which consisted of individual semi-structured interviews, conducted using an interview guide. Analysis identified the range of themes and domains that characterize each interview, and responses from each pastor were compared, identifying similar and dissimilar themes. Results: Pastors from 16 churches, representing seven denominations, ranging in size from 50 members to 3,000, in three Bay Area counties participated. Preliminary analysis indicates that pastors believe the church is important in reducing health disparities in the African-American community, and value public health organizations as resources and partners. Pastors offered insight into the reasons for churches to partner with public health organizations, prohibiting factors to such partnerships, and elements of a successful collaboration. Conclusion: Examining collaborations from the perspective of African-American pastors offers an understanding of partnership formation, and elucidates barriers and facilitators. This study can make a contribution to the dialogue about the role of churches in health interventions and help set the foundation for developing a framework within which to think about and develop faith-based health programs in the Black community.