Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, 984340 Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-4340, USA.
School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
J Relig Health. 2021 Apr;60(2):1179-1197. doi: 10.1007/s10943-019-00924-5.
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.
在美国的主要种族和族裔群体中，非裔美国人是最虔诚的宗教信仰者，基于信仰的组织在促进非裔美国人健康方面发挥着重要作用。本研究旨在采用混合方法评估非裔美国人教堂的健康需求。本研究于 2017 年在 8 所内布拉斯加州的非裔美国人教堂中收集了定量和定性数据，结果显示，参与研究的非裔美国教堂成员（n=388）中最常见的慢性疾病包括高血压（60.8%）、过敏（41.0%）、关节炎（36.4%）、高胆固醇（35.8%）和糖尿病（28.1%）。研究确定了一些健康状况不佳的显著预测因素，包括男性、失业、过去 12 个月因费用而延迟使用医疗保健、较少参加教堂活动以及过去两周感到沮丧、抑郁或绝望。来自参与教堂的牧师指出，费用是非裔美国人教堂提供基于信仰的健康服务的主要障碍之一。非裔美国人信仰社区存在大量未满足的健康需求，尤其是在慢性病预防和管理方面，教堂需要更多的支持来充分发挥其在基于信仰的健康促进方面的潜力。
