A Multi-Ethnic Faith and Public Health Partnership to Reduce Health Disparities

描述（由申请人提供）：教会参与已被推广为帮助减少美国非洲裔美国人和拉丁裔美国人之间的健康差距的一种方式；然而，许多城市地区存在多方面的保健需求，以及导致保健不平等的一系列复杂因素，意味着需要建立广泛和可持续的多种族、多教派信仰和保健伙伴关系。该项目的目标是建立一个由非裔美国人和拉丁裔会众领袖、公共卫生合作伙伴和研究人员组成的网络，共同减少南洛杉矶（LA）的差异。该项目的具体目标是：1)发展可持续的信仰和公共卫生伙伴关系，以建立能力，解决拉丁美洲人和非洲裔美国人所经历的健康差异；2)共同制定一项干预措施，利用教会和公共卫生资源，实现减少拉丁裔和非洲裔美国人在确定健康状况下的结果差异的目标；3)在非裔美国人和拉丁裔会众中试点测试干预的可行性和可接受性。使用的具体健康状况和干预战略将由一个指导委员会确定，该委员会由为南洛杉矶服务的主要教派和教派间协会和公共卫生实体组成，并与兰德公司及其主要社区伙伴洛杉矶大都会教会的研究人员一起确定；根据最初的投入，重点可能是以下三个健康问题之一：癌症、肥胖或肥胖

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Congregational involvement has been promoted as a way to help reduce health disparities among African Americans and Latinos in the U.S; however, the multifaceted health needs found in many urban areas, as well as the complex set of factors leading to health inequalities, mean that broad and sustainable, multi- ethnic, multi-denominational faith and health partnerships are needed. The goal of this project is to build a network of African-American and Latino congregational leaders, public health partners, and researchers to jointly reduce disparities in South Los Angeles (LA). The specific aims of the project are: 1) Develop a sustainable faith and public health partnership to build capacity to address health disparities experienced by Latinos and African Americans; 2) Jointly develop an intervention to leverage congregational and public health resources toward the goal of reducing disparities in outcomes for Latinos and African Americans for an identified health condition; 3) Pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention among African American and Latino congregations. The specific health condition and intervention strategy used will be defined by a Steering Committee composed of key denominational and inter-denominational associations and public health entities serving South Los Angeles, together with researchers at the RAND Corporation and its primary community partner, Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (LAM); based on initial input, the focus will likely be on one of three health issues: cancer, obesity, or HIV. The study will be collaborative throughout all stages, and we will develop strategies to strengthen the partnership's capacity to address health disparities beyond the focus on this initial condition. The partnership is innovative in bringing together religious, public health, and research organizations to address health disparities jointly and in using novel techniques for soliciting community input. Further, it emphasizes mutual capacity building and sustainability so that researchers are better able to design and evaluate interventions; congregations gain knowledge about community health issues and skills in conducting health programs; and public health practitioners contribute to and learn from the development of best practices in promoting community health. RELEVANCE: This will be the first multi-ethnic, multi-denominational faith and public health research partnership that aims to reduce health disparities in an on-going and interactive fashion and using novel techniques to obtain community input. This effort will lead to an in-depth understanding of diverse faith community perspectives on health disparities and the potential for addressing them through congregation-based programming.