Faith-Based Settings

The Faith-Based Settings Sector includes diverse religious organizations, and can include religious congregations or houses of worship, organized religious denominations, faith-based social service agencies, and faith-based charities. The National Physical Activity Plan Faith-Based Settings Sector focuses primarily on religious congregations and organized religious denominations. This sector plays a large role in the lives of those living in the United States, for a large proportion of Americans report a religious affiliation (76.5%), with 70.6% affiliating with a Christian tradition.¹ Relative to the general population, religious affiliation is higher in older generations, among non-Hispanic Blacks, and in the South.¹ The Harford Institute for Religion Research estimates that the United States has roughly 350,000 religious congregations.²

Although the primary mission of religious congregations is the spiritual growth and well-being of its members, most faith-based organizations promote community service, outreach, and volunteerism. This inclusive mission, combined with broad reach across diverse communities, makes religious congregations well-positioned to play an important role in public health practice.^3,4 Yet, churches are often overlooked as settings for public health disease prevention and health promotion programs. ³  Like worksites and schools, faith-based organizations have unique social systems, environments and physical structures (e.g., fellowship halls), communication channels, policies and practices, and often, health-related goals and supports (i.e., health ministries), which make them particularly conducive to promoting physical activity.

Faith-based health promotion programs have generally yielded positive changes in health behaviors.^5-7 A 2012 review of faith-based physical activity interventions found significant increases in physical activity in 16 of the 27 papers reviewed.⁸ However, many of the interventions reviewed were small short-term, pilot studies not guided by theoretical frameworks.⁸ In addition, the majority of interventions focused on individual behaviors rather than the church environment, systems, and policies, thereby limiting program reach and sustainability.

The Faith-Based Settings Sector of the National Physical Activity Plan developed strategies and tactics aimed at: 1) including physical activity promotion in health ministries, 2) encouraging faith-based organizations to partner with organizations from other sectors to promote physical activity, 3) institutionalizing physical activity programs for employees in large faith-based organizations, 4) identifying or developing marketing materials about physical activity tailored for faith community leaders, 5) encouraging physical activity and public health organizations to partner with faith-based organizations to develop and deliver accessible and tailored physical activity programs for diverse groups, and 6) creating and maintaining an electronic resource of evidence-based programs and best practices for promoting physical activity in faith-based settings.

Implementation of this sector’s strategies and tactics has the potential to greatly broaden the reach and impact of physical activity promotion by empowering faith-based organizations to deliver effective physical activity programs to their employees and constituents. Partnerships with organizations in other sectors will help ensure that faith-based organizations are using tailored materials and following best practices to promote physical activity within their sector.

Strategies

Strategy 1
Faith-based organizations should identify effective applications of their health ministries to promote physical activity. (FBS-1) [View Tactics]

Strategy 2
Faith-based organizations should establish partnerships with organizations from other sectors to promote physical activity in a manner that is consistent with their values, beliefs, and practices. (FBS-2) [View Tactics]

Strategy 3
Large faith-based organizations should institutionalize physical activity promotion programs for their employees. (FBS-3) [View Tactics]

Strategy 4
Large faith-based organizations should identify or develop marketing materials tailored for faith community leaders to enhance their perceptions of the value of physical activity. (FBS-4) [View Tactics]

Strategy 5
Physical activity and public health organizations should partner with faith-based organizations in developing and delivering physical activity programs that are accessible to and tailored for diverse groups of constituents. (FBS-5) [View Tactics]

Strategy 6
Physical activity and public health organizations should create and maintain an electronic resource for faith-based organizations to access evidence-based programs and best practices for promoting physical activity in faith-based settings. (FBS-6) [View Tactics]