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
. 2009 Jun;68(12):2231-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.03.036. Epub 2009 Apr 24.

US religious congregations and the sponsorship of health-related programs

Jenny Trinitapoli  1 , Christopher G Ellison, Jason D Boardman
Affiliations

US religious congregations and the sponsorship of health-related programs

Jenny Trinitapoli et al. Soc Sci Med. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Despite consistent evidence that religious congregations provide health-related programs for their members and residents of the local community, little is known about the distribution of congregation-based health programs across the United States. Using a nationally representative sample of US congregations (n=1230) we employ bivariate analysis and logistic regression to identify patterns in the sponsorship of health-related programs by religious congregations; we then propose and test various explanations for these observed patterns. Our findings contradict the impressions given by case studies and the program evaluation literature and suggest: a) that congregation-based health programs may not be serving the neediest communities; and b) that congregations are not taking advantage of mechanisms intended to facilitate the provision of health-related services by religious congregations.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ammerman NT. Pillars of faith: American congregations and their partners. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2005.
    1. Billingsley A. Mighty like a river: The black church and social reform. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999.
    1. Catanzaro AM, Meador KG, Koenig HG, Kuchibhatla M, Clipp EC. Congregational health ministries: a national study of pastors' views. Public Health Nursing. 2007;24:6–17. - PubMed
    1. Chaves M. National congregations study: Data file and codebook. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona, Department of Sociology; 1998.
    1. Chaves M. Religious congregations and welfare reform: who will take advantage of charitable choice? American Sociological Review. 1999;64:836–846.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources