title: YOUR Blessed Health: an HIV-prevention program bridging faith and public health communities.
abstract: African American faith-based institutions are not necessarily equipped to balance their moral and spiritual missions and interpretation of religious doctrine with complex health issues such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). YOUR Blessed Health (YBH) is a faith-based, six-month pilot project designed to increase the capacity of faith-based institutions and faith leaders to address HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 11- to 19-year-old African Americans. In addition to increasing the knowledge and skills of young people, the intervention seeks to change churches' norms to provide more open settings where young people can talk with faith leaders about sex, relationships, STIs, and HIV/AIDS. YBH expands the roles of adult faith leaders, particularly pastors' spouses, to include health education as they implement the intervention in their congregations and communities. The intervention includes a flexible menu of activities for faith leaders to select from according to their institutional beliefs, doctrines, and culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior & Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 Observatory St., SPH I, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA. derekmg@umich.edu
authors.forename: Derek M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Julie Ober
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Sarah Kretman
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012067:Religion; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
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