ABSTRACT
Community-based participatory action research was utilized to form a collaboration that developed a Health Ministry program in four Northeastern urban Black Churches, in which they designed and implemented a culturally competent Type II Diabetes self management education program. Minister sponsorship and a program coordinator synchronized the four Health Ministries' development and diabetes program planning. A case study design, and participant observations and a focus group methodology were used to explore the faith-based community residents' collaboration development, and design and implementation of the health promotion program. The implementation process can be described as occurring in four essential elements: (1) the development of the health ministry in each of the four churches; (2) the process in which the four ministries coordinated their activities to create the diabetes education program; (3) the process of delivering the diabetes education program; and (4) the challenges in promoting the diabetes education program across the community. Practice implications, as well as cultural competency issues related to social work practice with faith-based organizations and African-American communities, are also presented.
Subject(s)
Black or African American/psychology , Community Health Services/methods , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/ethnology , Patient Education as Topic , Religion and Medicine , Community Participation , Community-Institutional Relations , Cooperative Behavior , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/psychology , Focus Groups , Health Promotion/methods , Humans , New York , Organizational Case Studies , Self Care , Social Work , Urban Health ServicesABSTRACT
This article reports a case study of a South African nongovernmental organization's role in implementing maternal and child health care services for families in Khayelitsha, an informal township in the Western Cape. The township is an extremely poor community with high unemployment and many other social indicators of high need. The case study explores how services were enhanced to respond to the service needs of children and families. The role of economic development as a means of empowering the mothers is examined within the context of nongovernmental organization services. The implications of developing services that integrate social and economic development are discussed as a model for social work practice in the United States.
