Promoting Policy and Environmental Change in Faith-Based Organizations: Description and Findings From a Mini-Grants Program

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly R. Jacob Arriola ◽  
April Hermstad ◽  
Shauna St.Clair Flemming ◽  
Sally Honeycutt ◽  
Michelle L. Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Rural South ◽  
P Values ◽  
South Georgia ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Based Organizations

Purpose. The Emory Prevention Research Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network mini-grant program funded faith-based organizations to implement policy and environmental change to promote healthy eating and physical activity in rural South Georgia. This study describes the existing health promotion environment and its relationship to church member behavior. Design. Cross-sectional. Setting. Data were obtained from parishioners of six churches in predominantly rural South Georgia. Subjects. Participants were 319 church members with average age of 48 years, of whom 80% were female and 84% were black/African-American. Measures. Questionnaires assessed perceptions of the existing church health promotion environment relative to nutrition and physical activity, eating behavior and intention to use physical activity facilities at church, and eating and physical activity behaviors outside of church. Analysis. Multiple regression and ordinal logistic regression using generalized estimating equations were used to account for clustered data. Results. Results indicate that delivering messages via sermons and church bulletins, having healthy eating programs, and serving healthy foods are associated with participants’ self-reported consumption of healthy foods at church (all p values ≤ .001). Serving more healthy food and less unhealthy food was associated with healthier eating in general but not to physical activity in general (p values ≤ .001). Conclusion. The church environment may play an important role in supporting healthy eating in this setting and more generally.

scholarly journals Southeast Raleigh Minority Faith-based Health Promotion Initiative

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (SI) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolette Warren-White ◽  
Patricia Moorman ◽  
Morris J. Dunn ◽  
Carol S. Mitchell ◽  
Ariel Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Community Garden ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Community Residents ◽  
Faith Based Organizations ◽  
Walking Programs

Faith-based organizations are a powerful resource for addressing health issues within the African American community. In this paper, we describe two projects led by volunteer faith-based leaders and community residents who collaborated with public agencies to design programs to combat obesity. The first project, the Southeast Raleigh Community Garden Project, involved the construction of a community garden and the delivery of educational programs on healthy eating among youth. The second one, Project FACT (Faith-based groups Addressing health issues through Community outreach Together in the community), implemented church-based nutrition education programs and community walking programs led by church volunteers. The purpose of the two faith-based health promotion projects was to increase opportunities for physical activity and to encourage consumption of more fruits and vegetables. These projects resulted in the construction of a walking trail with the community garden as its destination, implementation of education programs to increase nutritional awareness, the initiation of multiple walking programs, and policy changes within the church to encourage a healthier lifestyle. The projects demonstrated the feasibility of collaboration among faith-based organizations, community residents and government agencies to promote physical activity and healthful eating among families by creating physical changes in the environment and implementing educational and walking programs in low income communities.

Social Environmental Correlates of Health Behaviors in a Faith-Based Policy and Environmental Change Intervention

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 672-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
April Hermstad ◽  
Sally Honeycutt ◽  
Shauna StClair Flemming ◽  
Michelle L. Carvalho ◽  
Tarccara Hodge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Social Environmental

Diet and physical activity are behavioral risk factors for many chronic diseases, which are among the most common health conditions in the United States. Yet most Americans fall short of meeting established dietary and physical activity guidelines. Faith-based organizations as settings for health promotion interventions can affect members at multiple levels of the social ecological model. The present study investigated whether change in the church social environment was associated with healthier behavior at church and in general at 1-year follow-up. Six churches received mini-grants and technical assistance for 1 year to support policy and environmental changes for healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Socioenvironmental (social support and social norms) and behavioral (HE and PA at church and in general) outcomes were derived from baseline and 1-year follow-up church member surveys ( n = 258). Three of six churches demonstrated significant improvements in all three socioenvironmental aspects of HE. Two of five churches exhibited significant socioenvironmental improvements for PA at follow-up. Church social environmental changes were related to health behaviors at church and in general ( p < .05). Change in social support for HE, social support for PA, and social norms for PA were each associated with three church-based and general behavioral outcomes. Social norms for healthy eating were related to two general behavior outcomes and social norms for unhealthy eating to one general behavioral outcome. Study findings demonstrate that socioenvironmental characteristics are essential to multilevel interventions and merit consideration in designing policy and environmental change interventions.

Assessing Organizational Factors in Faith-based Organizations Partnering in Health Promotion Interventions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin K. Tagai ◽  
Cheryl L. Holt ◽  
Mary Ann Scheirer ◽  
Sherie Lou Z. Santos ◽  
Nancy Atkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Based Organizations ◽  
Health Promotion Interventions

Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Lessons from the Portland Healthy Eating Active Living (Heal) Coalition

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Everett ◽  
Angie Mejia ◽  
Olivia Quiroz
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Health Promotion Program ◽  
Grocery Stores ◽  
Active Living ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Impact

The Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Coalition is a community-based health promotion program begun in 2006 in North Portland's Portsmouth neighborhood. The program seeks to promote community health and prevent childhood obesity by addressing barriers at local, regional and policy levels, with particular attention to the built environment. This article describes the findings of a program evaluation based on interviews with school staff and Latino parents. Important themes include the impact of the closure of a neighborhood school, access to grocery stores with affordable healthy foods, and concern about school meals. The comprehensive approach of programs like HEAL, which uses the socio-ecological model of health promotion, lends itself well to the participation of applied social scientists.

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Preferences of a Sample of Urban American Indians

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 428-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn S. Keim ◽  
Janyce Cagan Agruss ◽  
Ellen M. Williams ◽  
Louis Fogg ◽  
Ann Minnick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Community Health Center ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Program Delivery ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Telephone Coaching ◽  
Barriers To Physical Activity

This study identified program delivery preferences and barriers to physical activity and healthy eating. Ninety-nine urban dwelling American Indians completed a questionnaire at powwows, community events, and a community health center. Most frequently selected program delivery preferences were coaching or other human contact, with fewer willing to use computer or telephone coaching. Fifty-six selected attending 8, 12, or 16 sessions. Most frequently selected barriers to physical activity were lack of time ( n = 48) and pain from existing problems ( n = 33). Frequently identified barriers to eating healthy foods included expense ( n = 42), uncertainty regarding what foods are healthy ( n = 25), extra time needed for preparation ( n = 22), and lack of knowledge of how to prepare healthy food ( n = 22). Findings showed the need for programs to focus on decreasing the barriers of time for physical activity and healthy eating and encourage doing organized physical activity (not necessarily exercise) with others to increase physical activity.

Development and validation of an instrument to assess institutionalization of health promotion in faith-based organizations

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 101781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi M. Williams ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Nathaniel Woodard ◽  
Jimmie Slade ◽  
Sherie Lou Zara Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Based Organizations ◽  
Development And Validation

Promoting Policy and Environmental Change in Faith-Based Organizations

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly R. Jacob Arriola ◽  
April Hermstad ◽  
Shauna St. Clair Flemming ◽  
Sally Honeycutt ◽  
Michelle L. Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Based Organizations

scholarly journals Objective Church Environment Audits and Attendee Perceptions of Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Supports within the Church Setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 3598
Author(s):  
Marilyn E. Wende ◽  
Andrew T. Kaczynski ◽  
John A. Bernhart ◽  
Caroline G. Dunn ◽  
Sara Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
The Church

Interventions in faith-based settings are increasingly popular, due to their effectiveness for improving attendee health outcomes and behaviors. Little past research has examined the important role of the church environment in individual-level outcomes using objective environmental audits. This study examined associations between the objectively measured physical church environment and attendees’ perceptions of physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) supports within the church environment, self-efficacy for PA and HE, and self-reported PA and HE behaviors. Data were collected via church audits and church attendee surveys in 54 churches in a rural, medically underserved county in South Carolina. Multi-level regression was used to analyze associations between the church environment and outcomes. Physical elements of churches were positively related to attendees’ perceptions of church environment supports for PA (B = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.05) and HE (B = 0.05, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.09) and there was a significant interaction between perceptions of HE supports and HE church environment. Self-efficacy and behaviors for PA and HE did not show an association with the church environment. Future research should establish a temporal relationship between the church environment and these important constructs for improving health. Future faith-based interventions should apply infrastructure changes to the church environment to influence important mediating constructs to health behavior.

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