Correlates of Health Promotion in a Community Sample of African American Churches

Though many African American churches offer health promotion activities to their members, less is known about organizational factors that predict the availability of this programming. This study examines organizational capacity as a predictor of the amount and type of health programming offered by a convenience sample of 119 African American churches. Leaders completed a survey of health promotion activities provided in the previous 12 months and a measure of organizational capacity. Churches offered an average of 6.08 (SD = 2.15) different health programs targeting 4.66 (SD = 3.63) topics. Allocation of space and having a health ministry were positively associated with both the number of health programs and health topics addressed. When seeking to initiate health programming in an African American church setting, it is recommended that stakeholders partner with churches that have existing structures to support health promotion such as a health ministry, or help them build this capacity.