Transforming Lives: Health Initiatives in Faith Communities

Summary report of a mixed-methods' study from July 2014 to August 2015 on the impact of Faith Community Nursing and Health Ministries, coordinated by the CHI Health Faith Community Health Network, on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

Diversity of Research in Health Journal, 2018

Faith community nursing is introduced to students in third year of the BScN curriculum as one of the roles that nurses may have in community health. The plan to develop a faith community nursing placement was initiated when a local parish contacted the nursing professor to have student nurses assist with blood pressure screening and the organization of a health fair. This request created a unique opportunity to have three students placed with a nursing professor to address the health needs of the parish members. Partnerships with educational institutions have been found to enhance faith community health care, and provide learners such as nursing students with an opportunity to practice in a faith-based learning environment (Maitlen, Bockstahler, & Belcher, 2012; Otterness, Gehrke, & Sener, 2007). The main objectives of this initiative were to review the literature on faith community nursing, identify a model to guide the assessment and work that would occur within the setting, and to complete a needs assessment of the faith community. The assessment of the faith community was guided by the socio-ecological model (Campbell et al., 2007) which further informed the planning and delivery of the most appropriate health promotion activities within this setting.

Rödlach, A. (2013). Faith Community Nursing: An Emerging Ministry of Health and Healing Within the Church. Verbum 54(2):139-165.

Journal of Christian Nursing, 2014

She has 30 years of experience in nursing; 8 as an FCN and 12 as a manager of FCN programs.

Journal of Community Health, 1988

In-depth structured interviews were conducted with spokespeople for 176 inner-city churches regarding perceptions of existing community problems, number of currently offered churchbased 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 lowincome, 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 ch)thing 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 t() conduct such programs.

Journal of Christian Nursing, 2020

ABSTRACT: Research is critical to the growth of professional nursing in every practice area. Faith community nursing research evolved slowly in the years following publication of the first research in 1989. A faith community nursing research agenda was developed in 2008 and research priorities have been reviewed every 2 years since 2012 at a forum held in conjunction with the annual Westberg Symposium. This article reviews the progression and ongoing development of a research agenda for the specialty practice of faith community nursing. Recommendations for the development of future research for faith community nursing are discussed.

Public Health Nursing, 2007

Objectives: Since the 1980s, there has been a growing, but little studied, movement that organizes church-based health services under the direction of a coordinator, usually a registered nurse. These Congregational Health Ministries (CHMs) emphasize health promotion and disease prevention. We compared the perceptions of pastors with and without organized CHMs and the characteristics of their congregations' health ministries. Design: We used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Sample: We surveyed a national multidenominational sample of 349 pastors representing over 80 Christian denominations. Results: With limited resources, CHMs provide significant health promotion, disease prevention, and support services. Pastors with CHMs were significantly more involved in health promotion and disease prevention activities. Pastors without CHMs perceived a need for congregations to be involved in health-related services and were willing to become involved if they have adequate resources. Conclusions: Because of long-term trusting relationships that exist between congregants and those who minister to them, religious congregations may be ideally suited to provide cost-effective, community-based health promotion and disease prevention services as well as healthsupporting services to community-dwelling elderly and persons with chronic illnesses.

Journal of religion and health, 2016

Promoting wellness and providing reliable health information in the community present serious challenges. Lay health educators, also known as community health workers, may offer a cost-effective solution to such challenges. This is a retrospective observational study of graduates from the Lay Health Educator Program (LHEP) at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center from 2013 to 2014. Students were enrolled from the surrounding community congregations and from the hospital's accredited clinical pastoral education program. There were 50 events implemented by the lay health educators during the 2014-2015 time period, reaching a total of 2004 individuals. The mean time from date of graduation from the LHEP to implementation of their first health promotional event was 196 ± 76 days. A significant number of lay health educators implemented events within the first year after completing their training. Ongoing monitoring of their community activity and the clinical impact of their efforts ...

Journal of Christian Nursing, 2015

The value of a faith community nurse (FCN) program is difficult to communicate in a concise and effective manner to hospitals. It is important for FCNs and FCN Coordinators to have a well-rehearsed, value-added response to the question, "Why a Faith Community Nurse Program?" This article presents a concise, evidence-based response to this question and demonstrates the value of a hospital-supported FCN program in a five-finger response illustration. A concise "elevator speech" is an important strategy to provide a quick response in scheduled, intended, opportunistic, or spontaneous informal interactions in hospitals, and impact stakeholder perception of FCN program value.

North Carolina medical journal

National health care policy has encouraged health systems to develop community partnerships designed to decrease costs and readmissions, particularly for underserved populations. This commentary describes and compares the Congregational Health Network's Memphis Model to early local efforts at clinical-faith community partnerships in North Carolina, which we call "The North Carolina Way." Necessary components for building robust health system and congregational partnerships to address social determinants of health and impact health care utilization include partnership growth, allocation of health system resources, community trust, and time.