As you will learn or be reminded of, in this issue (32:4) of Family & Community Health, faith-based organizations have been part of the delivery of health and social services to many people for many years. These service delivery mechanisms were given a financial and endorsement boost during the administration of President George W. Bush. In his first term as president, he established with the US Department of Health & Human Services, the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
This issue of Family & Community Health (32:4) focuses on a topic of growing interest in the United States, which is how faith-based programs can address a range of community health problems. The range of community health problems addressed is broad and includes looking at how faith-based nursing care can provide cost savings by reducing acute care healthcare visits and placements in extended care facilities. Other articles discuss problems related to caregiver burden for persons caring for veterans with dementia, examining ways to reduce health disparities in minority populations, and providing care to homeless persons and women recently released from jails or prisons. Each provides an innovative approach that could be applied in other communities.
Faith-based programs are often successful in improving access to care to some of the most vulnerable persons in society. Often the care is given to those who are unable to easily leave their homes to seek care, to those who are underinsured or uninsured as well as to a variety of special populations including those discussed in this issue. The care that is provided is often appealing to the recipients in that it is typically culturally sensitive to the needs of the population being served and is provided in a nonthreatening manner. Also, often those who provide faith-based care are passionate about their work and the people whom they serve, and this passion and commitment is obvious to the recipients.
In nursing there is a specialty practice called either parish nursing or faith-community nursing. This area of practice combines professional nursing with health ministry. In many of the settings in which this form of community care is provided, the nurse providing the care is actually known to the recipients of care. They often attend the same congregation and may live in reasonably close proximity to one another.
Clearly, as the articles in this issue demonstrate, a variety of professionals provide faith-based care. They typically serve as health educators and counselors, referral advisors, advocates, and care coordinators. It has been found that faith-based health programs can "increase knowledge of disease, improve screening behavior and readiness to change, and reduce the risk associated with disease and disease symptoms."1(p1033) Both churches and faith-based organizations are generally familiar to community residents; they may be more acceptable to the recipients of care and seem less overwhelming and intimidating. As healthcare costs grow in the United States, it is important to both increase the collaboration between faith-based programs and healthcare professionals and evaluate their effectiveness in terms of delivering cost-effective services in a user-friendly manner and that demonstrates improved outcomes from those receiving the care.
Jeanette Lancaster
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