Faith and Public Health Leadership Producing a Healthier Community

As a public health specialist and faith leader of Detroit, Michigan, it is imperative for me to utilize my ministerial training and professional background to address preventable health related issues manifesting in epidemic portions in the African American community.  As a Fellow of the MidAmerica Regional Public Health Leadership Institute (MARPHLI) sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, I learned how to more efficiency engage in community advocacy and education involving health promotion, disease prevention, and early disease detection.  This excellent foundation in which I received has led me to further my education as a minister in training to attend the Institute for Faith and Public Health Leadership also sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.  This presentation will show that as a faith and public health leader I must effectively address health behavioral patterns and issues of social justice affecting the African American community while engaging in public health initiatives.  The African American community must be shown how embrace a healthy lifestyle while engaging in prayer as well as education.  The causes of health disparities and health inequities seen throughout the African American community will be analyzed.   This presentation will demonstrate how the church could engage in various types of interventions in order to elevate the health status of the African American community.