title: Social entrepreneurship in religious congregations' efforts to address health needs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine how religious congregations engage in social entrepreneurship as they strive to meet health-related needs in their communities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple case studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Los Angeles County, California.
  
  
  METHODS
  Purposive sample of 14 congregations representing diverse races/ethnicities (African-American, Latino, and white) and faith traditions (Jewish and various Christian).
  
  
  METHODS
  Congregations were recruited based on screening data and consultation of a community advisory board. In each congregation, researchers conducted interviews with clergy and lay leaders (n = 57); administered a congregational questionnaire; observed health activities, worship services, and neighborhood context; and reviewed archival information. Interviews were analyzed by using a qualitative, code-based approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Congregations' health-related activities tended to be episodic, small in scale, and local in scope. Trust and social capital played important roles in congregations' health initiatives, providing a safe, confidential environment and leveraging resources from-and for-faith-based and secular organizations in their community networks. Congregations also served as "incubators" for members to engage in social entrepreneurship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the small scale of congregations' health initiatives suggest they may not have the capacity to provide the main infrastructure for service provision, congregations can complement the efforts of health and social providers with their unique strengths. Specifically, congregations are distinctive in their ability to identify unmet local needs, and congregations' position in their communities permit them to network in productive ways.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Werber
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mendel
authors.forename: Kathryn Pitkin
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Derose
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D016520:Entrepreneurship; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires