Organizational readiness for wellness promotion – a survey of 100 African American church leaders in South Los Angeles

Abstract

Background Churches are an important asset and a trusted resource in the African American community. We needed a better understanding of their readiness to engage in health promotion before launching a large-scale health promotion effort in partnership with South Los Angeles churches. Methods In 2017, we conducted surveys with leaders of 100 churches. Surveys were conducted face-to-face (32%) or by telephone (68%) with senior pastors (one per church) and lasted on average 48 min. We compared small (less than 50 active members), medium (50–99 active members) and large churches (at least 100 active members), and assessed which church characteristics were associated with the implementation of wellness activities. Results Medium and large churches conducted significantly more wellness activities than small churches and were more likely to have wellness champions and health policies. Regardless of church size, insufficient budget was the most commonly cited barrier to implement wellness activities (85%). A substantial proportion of churches was not sure how to implement wellness activities (61%) and lacked volunteers (58%). Forty-five percent of the variation in the number of wellness activities in the last 12 months was explained by church characteristics, such as size of congregation, number of paid staff, leadership engagement, having a wellness ministry and barriers. Conclusions Many churches in South Los Angeles are actively engaged in health promotion activities, despite a general lack of resources. We recommend a comprehensive assessment of church characteristics in intervention studies to enable the use of strategies (e.g., stratification by size) that reduce imbalances that could mask or magnify study outcomes. Our data provide empirical support for the inner settings construct of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research in the context of health promotion in African American churches. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6895-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prevalence and Predictors of Substance Use Support Programming Among U.S. Religious Congregations

“…Congregational resources such as the number of participants and staff as well as providing health-focused education programs and having a nonprofit were positively associated with offering substance programming, consistent with prior research showing a connection between congregational resources and the provision of health-related programs (Fulton, 2011; Haughton et al, 2020; Trinitapoli et al, 2009; Wong et al, 2017). Larger congregations and more paid staff have been associated with having congregational health or wellness programs and community outreach programs (Hatchett et al, 2011; Maxwell et al, 2019; Tagai et al, 2018). Congregations without such resources may need to establish partnerships with outside health organizations that can provide the resources to support the implementation of health programs (Harper et al, 2014; Haughton et al, 2020).…”

“…For example, as noted above, congregational substance use programs likely supplement rather than replace government-funded services, similar to a previous in-depth exploration of congregational health programs that suggested most tend to be episodic, small in scale, and local in scope, although congregations are distinctive in being able to identify unmet local needs and network in productive ways (Werber et al, 2014). Therefore, partnerships among congregations, substance use professionals and academic institutions, or public health researchers are likely needed to address unmet substance use needs (Maxwell et al, 2019). Federal initiatives such as the Faith-based and Community Initiatives, particularly as implemented by SAMHSA, are important for promoting such partnerships, as they provide faith-based partners with block and formula grant funding and training programs and curricula (SAMHSA, 2018).…”

Organizational characteristics conducive to the implementation of health programs among Latino churches

“…We found that one-third of FBOs already had these relationships, which can be leveraged for health programming. A recent study among African American churches found that 65% had existing collaborations with health clinics or other organizations [34]. This suggests that churches may be adept at forming these relationships, although there may be room to further expand upon faith-based collaborations with health organizations.…”

Factors Facilitating Academic–Community Research Partnerships With African American Churches: Recruitment Process for a Community-Based, Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Fewer studies have investigated church characteristics that predict their readiness and capacity for HPP (Maxwell et al, 2019). Initial findings reveal that larger congregations, funding for HPP, paid staff, and health ministries are associated with HPP delivery (Maxwell et al, 2019).…”

“…African Americans (AAs) remain largely underrepresented in clinical trials, perpetuating health disparities (Julian McFarlane et al, 2021). AA churches are trusted organizations within the AA community, and their successful collaborations with academic institutions to conduct health promotion programming (HPP) and increase AA representation in clinical trials are well documented (Julian McFarlane et al, 2021; Maxwell et al, 2019). Fewer studies have investigated church characteristics that predict their readiness and capacity for HPP (Maxwell et al, 2019).…”