Blacks face many health challenges despite the many methods used to deliver disease prevention and health promotion information. Several reasons have been given to explain this problem. These include things such as the historical lack of trust of the traditional medical establishment, being under or uninsured and a belief that God, not the physician, is the ultimate healer.
For many Blacks, the church is among the most trusted place to receive information of any kind. So, what better place to reach the black community with health information than through the church? Is the Black church a viable institution for delivering a major source of health information and change?
To answer that question, researchers at the New York University School of Medicine collected data from 2010 to 2014 from 373 participants from 32 churches in New York City. The participants self-identified as Black and had reported a diagnosis of hypertension and uncontrolled blood pressure.
The researchers divided the participants into two groups. An intervention group and a control group. Participants in the