title: Program prioritization to control chronic diseases in African-American faith-based communities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the last decade, African-American congregations have been inundated with requests to participate in health promotion activities; however, most are not equipped to effectively participate. We assessed the effect of providing congregation leaders with skills on identifying their own health needs, planning, and implementing their own interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  At baseline, 21 congregational leaders from South East Raleigh, NC were taught methods for developing needs assessments, planning, and implementing health promotion activities tailored for their congregations. After approximately four years, 14 of the 21 congregations were successfully recontacted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, the congregation leadership ranked diabetes as the ninth (out of 10) most urgent health concern in their communities. However, at follow-up, not only was diabetes identified as the most serious health concern, but most congregations had taken advantage of available community and congregational resources to prevent it. Larger congregations were more likely than smaller ones to take advantage of available resources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Larger African-American congregations are an effective vehicle by which health promotion messages can diffuse; however, the leadership must be provided with skills to assess health needs before selecting programs most beneficial to their congregations. Mechanisms by which small congregation leaders can participate need development.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA. hoyo0001@mc.duke.edu
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoyo
authors.forename: Laverne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: Denethia B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Arlinda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellison
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hackney
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porterfield
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parrish
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006292:Health Priorities; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012067:Religion; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology