Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing Health Needs in African American Churches: A Mixed-Methods Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Among major racial and ethnic groups in the USA, African Americans are the most religious, and faith-based organizations play an important role in health promotion for African Americans. This study aimed to assess health needs in African American churches using a mixed-methods approach. Based on quantitative and qualitative data collected from eight African American churches in Nebraska in 2017, the most prevalent chronic conditions among participating African American church members (n = 388) included hypertension (60.8%), allergies (41.0%), arthritis (36.4%), high cholesterol (35.8%), and diabetes (28.1%). Significant predictors of fair or poor health were identified as male sex, unemployment, delayed utilization of health care in the past 12 months due to cost, lower frequency of church attendance, and feeling down, depressed, or hopeless in the past 2 weeks. Pastors from participating churches identified cost as one of the primary barriers to providing church-based health services. There were substantial unmet health needs in African American faith communities, especially in the areas of chronic disease prevention and management, and churches would need more support to realize their full potential in faith-based health promotion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berkley-Patton, J., Thompson, C. B., Bradley-Ewing, A., Berman, M., Bauer, A., Catley, D., et al. (2018). Identifying health conditions, priorities, and relevant multilevel health promotion intervention strategies in African American churches: A faith community health needs assessment. Evaluation and Program Planning, 67, 9–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.10.012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkley-Patton, J., Thompson, C. B., Moore, E., Hawes, S., Simon, S., Goggin, K., et al. (2016). An HIV testing intervention in African American churches: Pilot study findings. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 50(3), 480–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-015-9758-4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, M. K., Hudson, M. A., Resnicow, K., Blakeney, N., Paxton, A., & Baskin, M. (2007). Church-based health promotion interventions: Evidence and lessons learned. Annual Review of Public Health, 28, 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, M. K., James, A., Hudson, M. A., Carr, C., Jackson, E., Oakes, V., et al. (2004). Improving multiple behaviors for colorectal cancer prevention among African American church members. Health Psychology, 23(5), 492–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Census Bureau. (2017). Omaha, Nebraska. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ne.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). National Diabetes Statistics Report. http://www.diabetes.org/assets/pdfs/basics/cdc-statistics-report-2017.pdf. Accessed July 2, 2019.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guide to Community Preventive Services. (2017). Cardiovascular disease prevention and control: Interventions engaging community health workers. Retrieved from http://www.thecommunityguide.org/cvd/CHW.html.

  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). A concise introduction to mixed methods research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Debnam, K., Holt, C. L., Clark, E. M., Roth, D. L., & Southward, P. (2012). Relationship between religious social support and general social support with health behaviors in a national sample of African Americans. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 35(2), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9338-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeHaven, M. J., Hunter, I. B., Wilder, L., Walton, J. W., & Berry, J. (2004). Health programs in faith-based organizations: Are they effective? American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 1030–1036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan, N., Fox, S. A., Derose, K. P., & Carson, S. (2000). Maintaining mammography adherence through telephone counseling in a church-based trial. American Journal of Public Health, 90(9), 1468–1471.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erlingsson, C., & Brysiewicz, P. (2017). A hands-on guide to doing content analysis. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.08.001.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, S. A., & Liverpool, J. (2009). A review of faith-based HIV prevention programs. Journal of Religion and Health, 48(1), 6–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, D. M., Johnson, J., Zhang, R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2011). Ethnicity, nativity and the health of American blacks. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 22(1), 142–156.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P., Thorman Hartig, M., Frazier, R., Clayton, M., Oliver, G., Nelson, B. W., et al. (2014). Engaging faith-based resources to initiate and support diabetes self-management among African Americans: A collaboration of informal and formal systems of care. Health Promotion Practice, 15(2), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839914543012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, R. P., Aisnworth, B. E., Mathis, L., Hooker, S. P., & Keller, C. (2017). Incorporating religion and spirituality into the design of community-based physical activity programs for african american women: A qualitative inquiry. BMC Research Notes, 10, 506. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-017-2830-3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Liu, X., Gardner, C. O., McCullough, M. E., Larson, D., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Dimensions of religiosity and their relationship to lifetime psychiatric and substance use disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 496–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N. (2006). Church-based social support and mortality. Journal of Gerontology, 61(3), 140–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markens, S., Fox, S. A., Taub, B., & Gilbert, M. L. (2002). Role of Black churches in health promotion programs: Lessons from the Los Angeles Mammography Promotion in Churches Program. American Journal of Public Health, 92(5), 805–810. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.92.5.805.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard, M. J. (2017). Faith-based institutions as venues for obesity prevention. Current Obesity Reports, 6(2), 148–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mouzon, D. M. (2017). Religious involvement and the Black–White paradox in mental health. Race and Social Problems, 9(1), 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Health Statistics. (2016). Health, United States, 2015—With special feature on racial and ethnic health disparities. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus15.pdf.

  • Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services DHHS. (2015). Nebraska African American socioeconomic profile. Retrieved from http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/Documents/Health%20Status%20of%20African%20Americans.pdf.

  • Norström, F., Virtanen, P., Hammarström, A., Gustafsson, P. E., & Janlert, U. (2014). How does unemployment affect self-assessed health? A systematic review focusing on subgroup effects. BMC Public Health, 14(1310)

  • Ota, A., Yatsuya, H., Nishi, N., Okuda, N., Ohkubo, T., Hayakawa, T., et al. (2018). Relationships among socioeconomic factors and self-rated health in japanese adults: NIPPON DATA2010. Journal of Epidemiology, 28(3), 66–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Center. (2009). A religious portrait of African Americans. Washington, DC: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/.

  • Pew Research Center. (2015). America’s changing religious landscape. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/05/RLS-05-08-full-report.pdf.

  • Resnicow, K., Jackson, A., Blissett, D., Wang, T., McCarty, F., Rahotep, S., et al. (2005). Results of the healthy body healthy spirit trial. Health Psychology, 24(4), 339–348. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.24.4.339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, S. L. Z., Tagai, E. K., Scheirer, M. A., Bowie, J., Haider, M., Slade, J., et al. (2017). Adoption, reach, and implementation of a cancer education intervention in African American churches. Implementation Science. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-017-0566-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sattin, R. W., Williams, L. B., Dias, J., Garvin, J. T., Marion, L., Joshua, T. V., et al. (2015). Community trial of a faith-based lifestyle intervention to prevent diabetes among African-Americans. Journal of Community Health, 41, 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh-Manoux, A., Dugravot, A., Shipley, M. J., Ferrie, E., Martikainen, J. E., Goldberg, P., et al. (2007). The association between self-rated health and mortality in different socioeconomic groups in the GAZEL cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 3(6), 1222–1228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. L., Bergeron, C. D., Ahn, S., Towne, S. D., Mingo, J., Robinson, C. A., et al. (2018). Engaging the underrepresented sex: Male participation in chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) programs. American Journal of Men’s Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988317750943.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Su, D., Wen, M., & Markides, K. (2013). “Is self-rated health comparable across racial and ethnic groups? Evidence from the health and retirement study. Journal of Gerontology: Social Science, 68(4), 622–632. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbt037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tkatch, R., Musich, S., Draklellis, J., Hetzel, M., Banks, J., Dugan, J., et al. (2017). Claim more: Empowering African American women to make healthy choices. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 36(1), 99–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010118758717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, B. I. (2017). African American Pastors’ Perspectives on Health Promotion Ministries. Dissertation, Walden University. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4949&context=dissertations. Accessed July 6, 2019.

  • Whitney, E., Kindred, E., Pratt, A., O’Neal, Y., Harrison, C. P., & Peek, M. E. (2017). Culturally tailoring a patient empowerment and diabetes education curriculum for the African American church. The Diabetes Educator, 43(5), 441–448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145721717725280.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wolinsky, F. D., Miller, T. R., Malmstrom, T. K., Miller, J. P., Schootman, M., Andresen, E. M., et al. (2008). Self-rated health: Changes, trajectories, and their antecedents among African Americans. Journal of Aging and Health, 20(2), 142–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Keyonna King, Maria Teel, Doris Lassiter, and the pastors of participating churches for their support and assistance with this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, 984340 Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-4340, USA

    Dejun Su, Jessica Wiens & Eric Meyer

  2. School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    Ashvita Garg

  3. Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Grace Cai

Authors
  1. Dejun Su
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashvita Garg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jessica Wiens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eric Meyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Grace Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dejun Su.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no financial or other conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix: Questions for Interview with Church Leaders

Appendix: Questions for Interview with Church Leaders

  • Q1. Could you please give us a brief introduction of your church?

  • Q2. Is there a health ministry in your church?

    1. a.

      (If yes to Q2) What is the mission or purpose of the health ministry?

    2. b.

      (If yes to Q2) What are the activities or programs the health ministry has conducted in your church?

    3. c.

      (If no to Q2) Do you see the need of having a health ministry in your church in the future? Why or why not?

  • Q3. Based on your assessment and observation, what are some of the most important and pressing unmet health needs in your congregation?

  • Q4. What role do you think your church can play in addressing some of these pressing unmet health needs among congregation members?

    1. a.

      What are the major barriers you foresee for this purpose?

  • Q5. What other organizations or agencies has your church worked with in health promotion?

    1. a.

      What kind of partnership or collaboration would be most useful to help improve the health of your congregation members?

  • Q6. Do you have any other comments or suggestion to share with us?

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Su, D., Garg, A., Wiens, J. et al. Assessing Health Needs in African American Churches: A Mixed-Methods Study. J Relig Health 60, 1179–1197 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00924-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00924-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation