Abstract
Despite the success of health programs conducted within African American (AA) churches, research has been limited in understanding facilitators and barriers that exist when conducting adult health programs within AA churches. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the literature to identify these facilitators and barriers. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and studies that met the eligibility criteria were divided based on their focus: disease topic or behavior, health promotion activities, or church readiness. Facilitators and barriers were also stratified using the socioecological model. Out of 288 articles initially identified, only 29 were included. Facilitators and barriers were predominantly found at the intrapersonal and organizational level for disease topic or behavior studies, and at the organizational level for studies focused on health promotion activities and church readiness. None of the articles identified facilitators and barriers at the policy level.
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Appendices
Appendix
Appendix A: Search Strategy
CINAHL Ebsco,
(MH "Churches") OR AB ( "faith based" or church* or (health n2 ministr*)) OR TI ( "faith based" or church* or (health n2 ministr*)) or AB ( clergy or pastor* or minister* or preacher* or (church n1 leader*)) OR TI ( clergy or pastor* or preacher* or minister* or (church n1 leader*))
AND
(MH "Blacks") OR AB ( (african n1 american*) or black*) OR TI ( (african n1 american*) or black*)
AND
TI (readiness or capacity or assessment) OR AB ( readiness or capacity or assessment)
Medline Complete,
(MH "Faith-Based Organizations + ") OR AB ( "faith based" or church* or (health n2 ministr*)) OR TI ("faith based" or church* or (health n2 ministr*)) or TI (clergy or pastor* or minister* or (church n1 leader*) or preacher*) or AB(clergy or pastor* or minister* or (church n1 leader*) or preacher*)
AND
(MH "African Americans") OR AB ( (african n1 american*) or black*) OR TI ( (african n1 american*) or black*)
AND
TI (readiness or capacity or assessment) OR AB (readiness or capacity or assessment)
Medline Ebsco, 1980–2019
(TI community n1 read* OR AB community n1 read*) OR (TI community n1 capacity OR AB community n1 capacity)
MMAT Tool Question Key
Screening Questions for all types
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S1. Are there clear research questions?
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S2. Do the collected data allow to address the research questions.
Qualitative studies
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Is the qualitative approach appropriate to answer the research question?
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Are the qualitative data collection methods adequate to address the research question?
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Are the findings adequately derived from the data?
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Is the interpretation of results sufficiently substantiated by data?
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Is there coherence between qualitative data sources, collection, analysis and interpretation?
Quantitative non-randomized studies
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3.1. Are the participants representative of the target population?
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3.2. Are measurements appropriate regarding both the outcome and intervention (or exposure)?
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3.3. Are there complete outcome data?
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3.4. Are the confounders accounted for in the design and analysis?
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3.5. During the study period, is the intervention administered (or exposure occurred) as intended?
Mixed-method studies
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5.1. Is there an adequate rationale for using a mixed-method design to address the research question?
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5.2. Are the different components of the study effectively integrated to answer the research question?
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5.3. Are the outputs of the integration of qualitative and quantitative components adequately interpreted?
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5.4. Are divergences and inconsistencies between quantitative and qualitative results adequately addressed?
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5.5. Do the different components of the study adhere to the quality criteria of each tradition of the methods involved?
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Gandara, E., Harvey, I.S., Foster, M. et al. Facilitators and Barriers When Conducting Adult Health Programs Within the African American Church: A Systematic Review. J Relig Health 62, 2496–2531 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01532-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01532-6