The religious community as a partner in health care
- 1 December 1988
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of Community Health
- Vol. 13 (4), 249-257
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01324237
Abstract
In-depth structured interviews were conducted with spokespeople for 176 inner-city churches regarding perceptions of existing community problems, number of currently offered church-based social and health programs, and potential interest in church sponsorship of new maternal and child health programs. The sample of respondents represented 78% of the 227 churches located in a low-income, primarily black urban area with 150,000 residents. The typical church participating in the survey was Baptist with a congregation of 100 to 500 people, most of whom were not community residents. The leading community problems identified by the clergy were, in descending order: lack of jobs, teenage pregnancy, gang crime, school drop-outs, and hunger. The perception of community problems matched the church services offered as measured by the number of food and clothing pantries. Few churches had ongoing programs for neighborhood youths. Although many of these same churches expressed interest in expanding services for mothers, adolescents and children, few perceived themselves as having the necessary staff, funds, or technical expertise to conduct such programs.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Training Volunteers to Conduct Heart Health Programs in ChurchesAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 1987
- The role of churches in disease prevention research studies.1986
- Institutionalizing Social Support Through the Church and into the CommunityHealth Education Quarterly, 1985
- The role of the black church in community medicine.1984
- A role for churches in hypertension management.1983
- Churches as High Blood Pressure Control CentersAmerican Journal of Public Health, 1981
- Involving the Southern rural church and students of the health professions in health education.1980
- Clergy consultation as a community mental health programCommunity Mental Health Journal, 1977
- Unique contributions of churches and clergy to community mental healthCommunity Mental Health Journal, 1976
- The clergyman's role and community mental health.1970