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Growing a Health Ministry in an African American Church: A Developmental Evaluation Case Study 

11-27-2017 21:37

​Health disparities, or inequality in levels of health between different groups of people, have been well-documented in African American communities and often are closely linked to larger social and economic disadvantages and discrimination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014b). Community-based organizations (CBOs) can play an important role in helping at-risk community members improve their health status by working to improve social determinants of health: conditions into which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The specialized ministries and outreach programs of churches represent one type of CBO that is particularly salient in the African American community. This research explored how an African American/Black church built on efforts to increase the use of the resources of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) among its members and potentially the wider African-American community, and in so doing, increase the church’s capacity to explore the development of health ministry and potentially use church resources to address adaptive challenges relating to the congregants’ health, including health equity and access to the social determinants of health. The methodology utilized is an action research, exploratory case study of one church in Georgia using a developmental evaluation (DE) approach based on systems thinking and the concept of strengthening the church as a learning organization, supplemented with a survey of ministers from other Black churches in the region to explore the transferability of lessons learned from the case study.​

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11-27-2017 21:43

Explain how an African American church supported greater use of the resources provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) among its members and potentially the wider African American community. Describe how a particular African-American church linked a government program to the people it serves. Demonstrate how building capacity at the church helped address the social determinants of health and promoted health equity. Analyze how the church member’s efforts lead to a health ministry that addressed adaptive challenges related to its congregants’ health. Identify how a group of church members came together as a dedicated team to evaluate the church’s existing practices for program development and implementation in a way that led to lasting systems change that embodied the collective views, beliefs, and tenets of the church ​