Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 May;92(5):805-10.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.92.5.805.

Role of Black churches in health promotion programs: lessons from the Los Angeles Mammography Promotion in Churches Program

Susan Markens  1 , Sarah A Fox, Bonnie Taub, Mary Lou Gilbert
Affiliations

Role of Black churches in health promotion programs: lessons from the Los Angeles Mammography Promotion in Churches Program

Susan Markens et al. Am J Public Health. 2002 May.

Abstract

Objectives: This article assesses pastor-level factors that affect the successful recruitment and implementation of community-based health promotion programs in Black churches.

Methods: Semistructured interviews with 16 pastors of Black churches were analyzed for content.

Results: We found that although the involvement of Black pastors in an array of secular activities makes them open to participate in health programs, their overcommitment to other issues can negatively influence their ability to participate. Second, although Black pastors appreciate being included in and benefiting from health research, minorities' history of being underserved and exploited can lead to suspiciousness and reluctance to participate.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that those interested in developing church-based health programs in the Black community must be attuned to how the same factors can both facilitate and hinder a program's development.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Frazier EF. The Negro Church in America. New York, NY: Schocken Books; 1996.
    1. Nelsen HM, Nelsen AK. Black Church in the Sixties. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press; 1975.
    1. Morris A. The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York, NY: Free Press; 1984.
    1. Pattillo-McCoy M. Church culture as a strategy of action in the black community. Am Sociol Rev. 1998;63:767–784.
    1. Lincoln CE, Mamiya LH, eds. The Black Church in the African American Experience. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 1990.

Publication types

MeSH terms