African American Faith Communities Project: Conceptualizing Research for Scholarly Collaboration

African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV among all racial and ethnic groups. Direct involvement of faith leaders and faith communities is increasingly suggested as a primary strategy to reduce HIV-related disparities, and Black churches are uniquely positioned to address HIV stigma, prevention, and care in African American communities. The authors describe an academic-community partnership to engage Black churches to address HIV in a predominantly African American, urban, southern Midwest location. The opportunities, process, and challenges in forming this academic community partnership with Black churches can be used to guide future efforts toward engaging faith institutions, academia, and other community partners in the fight against HIV.

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African American Faith Communities and Public Health:Working at the Intersections of COVID-19

10.21203/rs.3.rs-101969/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

PhD Peter Goldblum ◽

Thompkins ◽

MBA Tammy Lai ◽

Brown

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

African American ◽

Policy Development ◽

Faith Community ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Community Leaders ◽

Structural Racism ◽

National Network ◽

Decision Making Problem

Abstract The unprecendented global disruption caused by COVID-19 has exacerbated systemic inequities in healthcare, public health, socioeconomic status, and structural racism. How systematic inequities that are expressed at the intersection of human activities are addressed will influence whether we can control or stop the pandemic. Priotizing collaboration, equity, and investing financial and social capitol into community leadership is an essential part of mitigating and addressing both the short- and long-term repercussions of COVID-19. Through analysis of and evidence from the lived experiences of a national network of African American pastors, the authors recommend four strategies to expedite recovery from the pandemic and to promote enduring beneficial societal change: (1) public health and faith communities should initiate and maintain ongoing relationships that are based on trust; (2) recognition and acknowledgement by agencies and organizations that faith community leaders possess unique knowledge of their communities; (3) inclusion of faith community leaders as full partners when strategizing, decision-making, problem-solving, and policy development sessions occur that affect community wellbeing; and, (4) use of an intersecting approach that recognizes the multifactorial realities of COVID-19 and uses remedies that effectively address existing and new problems in a comprehensive, long-term manner.

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Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Dementia in Predominantly African American Congregants

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/0733464820987350 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073346482098735

Author(s):

Fayron Epps ◽

Kimberly Foster ◽

Karah Alexander ◽

Glenna Brewster ◽

Mia Chester ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Memory Loss ◽

Free Association ◽

Fear Memory ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Perceptions And Attitudes ◽

Before And After ◽

Seeking Help

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions and attitudes of African American congregants toward dementia before and after attending a dementia-focused workshop. Six churches in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, hosted the workshops. Attendees ( N = 171) participated in a free association exercise to evaluate their perceptions and attitudes toward dementia. Before and after the workshop, participants wrote words and phrases that occurred to them when they thought of dementia. Content analysis was used to identify themes. Before the workshop, participants’ responses tended to include negative language (e.g., fear, memory loss, sadness). After the workshop, participants expressed more positive words (e.g., support, hopefulness, caring). These findings suggest that education can change congregants’ perceptions about dementia and potentially reduce dementia-associated stigma. This change will allow families to feel comfortable both interacting with and seeking help from those in their faith communities.

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Behold, she stands at the door: Reentry, black women and the black church

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry ◽

10.15845/jper.v3i1.1000 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 56

Author(s):

Kathryn V. Stanley

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Black Women ◽

African American Women ◽

Black Church ◽

Women Of Color ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Intended Audience ◽

Returning Citizens ◽

The Impact ◽

The Church

This paper examines the African American church’s response to the special problems of African American women who reenter the community post-incarceration. The first portion of the paper examines the impact of criminal justice policies on women of color and the attending problems of reentry which resulted. It then surveys the black church’s response to returning citizens, especially women. It concludes by proposing shifts in perspectives and theologies which create barriers to successful reintegration into the community at large, and the church in particular. The intended audience is individuals and faith communities who seek to work effectively with returning women.

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African American Faith Communities: A Racial Socialization Agent

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e628622012-255 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

P. Martin

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Racial Socialization ◽

Faith Communities

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Promoting advance care planning in African American faith communities: literature review and assessment of church-based programs

Palliative Care and Social Practice ◽

10.1177/2632352420975780 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 263235242097578

Author(s):

Jenny McDonnell ◽

Ellen Idler

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Advance Care Planning ◽

Black Americans ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Black American ◽

Care Planning ◽

Planning Education ◽

Faith Based ◽

Advance Care ◽

Education Initiatives

Advance care planning is under-used among Black Americans, often because of experiences of racism in the health care system, resulting in a lower quality of care at the end of life. African American faith communities are trusted institutions where such sensitive conversations may take place safely. Our search of the literature identified five articles describing faith-based advance care planning education initiatives for Black Americans that have been implemented in local communities. We conducted a content analysis to identify key themes related to the success of a program’s implementation and sustainability. Our analysis showed that successful implementation of advance care planning programs in Black American congregations reflected themes of building capacity, using existing ministries, involving faith leadership, exhibiting cultural competency, preserving a spiritual/Biblical context, addressing health disparities, building trust, selectively using technology, and fostering sustainability. We then evaluated five sets of well-known advance care planning education program materials that are frequently used by pastors, family caregivers, nurse’s aides, nurses, physicians, social workers, and chaplains from a variety of religious traditions. We suggest ways these materials may be tailored specifically for Black American faith communities, based on the key themes identified in the literature on local faith-based advance care planning initiatives for Black churches. Overall, the goal is to achieve better alignment of advance care planning education materials with the African American faith community and to increase implementation and success of advance care planning education initiatives for all groups.

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