Working with Communities

Similarly to the importance of religion and spirituality on an individual, these factors have a great impact on a community as well. This is mainly because different communities and cultures have beliefs and practices that may have health implications. To say the least, religion and spirituality have great impacts on social capital, socioeconomic status and inequality, violence and crime, coping with community stressors, and social support. To dive deeper into some of these below are a few specific examples.

  • Public Health Law and Policy
    • Book by Dr. Oman on spirituality in public health policy making
    • The first step to aid in catering towards R/S in the community is to assess the practices already in place. In his book “Why Religion and Spirituality Matter for Public Health”, Dr. Doug Oman gives an example of improving cultural competence in the community through nutritional efforts. He gives three points: policy makers must be aware that communities engage in a mixture of practices and not just one dietary plan. Second is that when seeking to address chronic issues in the community, one will find that building upon church-based interventions may help. In other words, utilizing the existing programs and resources that the  community already trusts is a great way for policy makers to impact the people. Third, preventative measures based on R/S strategies may and have shown to be effective for more mental or emotional illnesses.
  • Health Promotion / Health Education
    • Partnerships between the faith-based and medical sectors: Implications for preventive medicine and public health
      • Information on intersectionality of medicine and religion through 10 points of interconnection as follows:
        • Denomination-sponsored healthcare institutions
        • Medical and public health missions
        • Healthcare chaplaincy and pastoral care
        • Congregation-based health promotion and disease prevention
        • Community-based outreach to special populations
        • Clinical and population-health research on religion and spirituality
        • Academic spirituality and health centers
        • Religious medical ethics
        • Fatih-based health policy advocacy
        • Federal faith-based initiatives
  • Research
    • Key tips on how to do research; How to measure religiosity/spirituality in PH; How providers can research it
      • Ethical Issues in Conducting Research on Religion and Spirituality
      • Strengthening Ethics: A Faith Perspective on Educational Research
      • Twenty-One Ethical Considerations Regarding Religion/Spirituality in Psychiatric Research
      • When conducting religious research or health research that involves religious communities, there are things researchers should keep in mind.
        • Protecting participants: Researchers should respect the rights, dignity, safety, and well-being of participants, including human participants, and maintain confidentiality
        • Identifying vulnerable communities: Researchers should consider how to protect vulnerable communities
        • Avoiding stigmatization: Researchers should avoid stigmatizing participants
        • Sharing research findings: Researchers should have appropriate mechanisms for sharing research findings
        • Respecting patients’ beliefs: Researchers should ask about and respect patients’ religious or spiritual beliefs when designing and performing a clinical trial 
      • Another point to remember is that research can leave the online realm and continue in the mosque, temple, church, or local place of worship and community, where individuals may be exposed to a more full understanding and perspective.
  • Additional Public Health Resources
    • Religion and Spirituality in Health Care Practice
      • Good resource for tips on dealing with bigger issues of R/S in medicine
    • On Religion and Public Health | BU SPH
      • Great article with many links to PH issues and background on religion in medicine.
      • Touches upon how public health and religion melded and evolved together over time.
    • Religion as a Social Determinant of Public Health
      • A book that discusses history, impact, influence of religion on organizations and populations around the world. 
        • Part I: Descriptions of religious practices of religious/spiritual individuals that affect their daily, weekly, annual, and life course influences of their body, mind, and spirit.
        • Part II: Historical instances when institutions became a positive/negative impact in public health.
        • Part III: Argument that the influence of religion on physical and mental health begins even before birth and continues on throughout life.
        • Part IV: Displays influence of religion and religious institutions on public health around the world.
        • Part V: Religion’s ongoing role in epidemic and threats of HIV/AIDS, influenza, and Alzheimer’s disease.
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