No description available.

Objectives: To provide faith-based clinics with a iPad mini for providers with a drug database, disease database, and a screening tool and to provide the clinics with a desktop to provide patient education information to their patients using MedlinePlus and to register patients for the Affordable Care Act. Methods: Each organization received two iPad minis and one desktop computer. The providers who received the iPads minis were given two hours of training on the databases provided and on MedlinePlus. The librarians will conduct a focus group three months post training to determine the utility of the devices to the clinics and to discover future avenues of collaboration. Results: Interviews were conducted at all faith-based clinics that received the iPad minis and desktops. Preliminary evaluation shows the clinics appreciated the devices, training, and support. Conclusions: Data are still being analyzed, but the program appears to be a success and will hopefully be replicated in the future.

No description available.

After-school programs play an increasing role in providing developmental and social skills through extra-curricular activities. Adolescents are most likely to engage in delinquent behavior during unsupervised after-school hours. Different after-school programs are available, both community-based and faith-based programs have risen in number in response to the need of children to have a safe environment with adult supervision. This study is interested in comparing after-school programs that are faith-based to community-based and see if any similarities or differences exist within each other. The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to the existing literature on after-school programs in two ways. First, this research will provide a brief history of after-school programs and a discussion of the types of programs. Second, this study will compare and contrast the various goals, structure, and performance of a community-based program and a faith-based program. Through in-person interview, a comparison will be drawn on organizational structure, activities, source and funding, goals and objectives, and outcomes of each program.

Diabetes is a serious health threat that disproportionately affects Hispanics of Puerto Rican heritage. Current evidence supports diabetes prevention programs to change health behaviors in people who are at risk and thus prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. However, few interventions exist for Hispanics, and even fewer have been designed for Puerto Rican adults. A literature review of community-based diabetes prevention programs involving at-risk Hispanics was conducted using a cultural sensitivity framework to determine the state of the science and identify gaps in knowledge regarding diabetes prevention for Puerto Ricans. An integrated theoretical framework was developed using constructs from the extended parallel process model (perceived severity and susceptibility) and social cognitive theory (self-efficacy) to design program components aimed to educate and motivate positive dietary behavior change in Puerto Rican adults. The two key components were a diabetes health threat message and dietary skill building exercises that incorporated spirituality and relevant faith practices, and were culturally-tailored for Puerto Ricans. A pretest-posttest, concurrent mixed methods design was used to test the impact and evaluate feasibility of a diabetes health threat message and skill-building exercises in a sample of Puerto Rican adults. A total of 24 participants enrolled in the study and attended six-weekly meetings that included baseline data collection, a health threat message, dietary skill building exercises, focus group interviews, posttest data collection, and an end-of-study potluck gathering. All of the study participants were Puerto Rican and a majority were female (70.8%), with a mean age of 55.5 years (SD 13.71). Most had a family history of diabetes (n = 21, 87.5%) and believed they were at-risk for the disease (n = 16, 66.7%). Using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test, significant increases or improvements were found in perceptions of diabetes severity (p < .01), dietary self-efficacy (p = .002), and dietary patterns (p = .02) at posttest in comparison to baseline. Spearman's rank correlations found moderate to strong relationships between the following variables: perceived severity and weight (rs = -.44, p = .03), dietary self-efficacy and dietary patterns (rs = .43, p = .04), dietary self-efficacy and fasting blood glucose levels (rs = - .45, p = .03), and American acculturation and weight (rs = .51, p = .02). The qualitative themes that emerged contributed to our understanding of participants' perspective relative to the health threat message, dietary skill building exercises, and the importance of cultural relevance and spirituality. The data support feasibility of this faith-based intervention that had an attendance rate of 58% and no loss of sample due to attrition. Diabetes prevention interventions for at-risk Puerto Ricans adults that incorporate a faith-based, culturally-tailored health threat message and dietary skill building exercises may help educate those who are at-risk and motivate lifestyle behavior change to prevent the development of diabetes. Further faith-based, culturally-tailored diabetes prevention research is indicated for Puerto Rican adults.

This study examines the relationship between government funding and faith-based nonprofit organizational development and professionalization. By conducting an online survey of 1,632 executive directors at Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the United States, followed by telephone and email interviews with selected leaders from the organization, this mixed-method case study examined the organizational tensions, opportunities, bureaucratization, and professionalization of a religiously-based nonprofit as it transitioned from primarily private funding to broad acceptance of public monies. Habitat for Humanity provided an excellent prospect for this research, as the organization announced one year before the study began that its 27-year tradition of not seeking or accepting government funding (with the exception of grants for infrastructure) would change in July 2006. The study utilized Barry Dym and Harry Hutson's stages of organizational development, particularly their concept of professionalization, as an analytical framework for the study, with particular emphasis on the potential effects government funding may have on Habitat's organizational structure. The study suggested a close relationship between increasing professionalization at the organization's national office and the decision of national leadership to allow local affiliates to pursue government funding for construction. In addition, survey and interview data indicated that this change has been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in emphasis on religious mission, or at least a less conservative (and in some cases more pluralistic) approach to religious aims, than was evident in a 1995 International Partner training session in which the researcher participated. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of an Advanced Practice Nurse in providing spiritual and nursing care within a faith community setting. The study will describe the process of developing a Parish Nurse program using a Nurse Practitioner to offer wholistic health care to parishioners. It will also illustrate the collaborative process of developing a free health center within a faith based organization, using the Nurse Practitioner to manage the health center and deliver health care services. In order to demonstrate the need for parish nurse care, the case study used an anonymous survey to provide insight into the health status of the congregation, as well as to determine perceived needs of parishioners. Excerpts from the researcher's journal and audio-taped interviews of parishioners and key leaders within the community was used to express congregants' experiences of receiving parish nurse care, and to convey the need for a free community health center in the target population. A utilization review was conducted to demonstrate the profile of the patients who have accessed the services of the health center. The findings revealed three commons themes of parish nurse care; presence, spiritual support, and health care liaison. The study also revealed parishioners had an expedited referral process and improved patient provider relationships. Additional findings determined that the free health center was able to be operated by many of the members of the faith based organization, and was effective in managing chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Advanced Practice Nurses who are Parish Nurses have an opportunity to practice in a more wholistic manner, and offer advanced level care to parishioners and the community at large to improve health outcomes.

This dissertation explores the passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA) through John Kingdon’s (2003) Multiple Streams Theory. A policy analysis of the FFATA was conducted adapting Bardach’s Eightfold Path to Effective Problem Solving (2005) to explore the effectiveness of the FFATA. The dissertation focused on the attempt of the FFATA to account for the acceptable disbursement and use of disaster recovery payments and the ability of faith based initiatives to provide relief without compromising the separation of church and state principle through a coupling event. Additionally, this research sought to determine if faith based initiatives created a greater risk in awarding Stafford Act’s Public Assistance Grant Funds in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The study found the FFATA is not successfully meeting its goals and objectives in disaster recovery situations as it relates to Public Assistance Grants after Katrina because it fails to trace federal funding to the actual recipient of the grant. To determine if faith based initiatives created a greater risk in awarding Public Assistance Grant Funds after Katrina, 75 reports published by Office of Inspector General on Hurricane Katrina were reviewed to determine which types of compliance issues auditors have found with entities receiving federal funding under this grant program. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis and document analysis was performed on the collected data. Data showed that public entities have a higher percentage of questioned costs in comparison to faith based organizations. Content analysis revealed that 100 percent of public entities still spent the money on some other public purpose, but not necessarily a disaster-related purpose as required by federal rules specific to the PA Grant Program. Faith based organizations were more likely to have a violation of federal rules where the money ultimately was not traceable, indicating a greater risk of faith based organizations to violate the separation of church and state principle.

Private aid and philanthropic charities are often considered part of a neo-liberal strategy to reduce state responsibility for the provision of many services considered essential to securing social rights, with the devolution of welfare responsibilities to non-state actors a means to minimising social expenditures. Such a construction ostensibly depicts philanthropic non-state actors as agents of social justice that, in contributing to poverty reduction, play a role in social transformation. This article questions the assumption that private aid delivered through philanthropic activities and faith-based organisations (FBOs) can fulfil the state's responsibility in terms of social protection and transformation. It questions whether partnerships between the state and institutions that are not democratically elected and do not fit within a robust accountability framework can fulfil this remit. This is examined through the prism of a case study of the relationship between the Turkish state and philanthropy, focusing on FBOs that fund poverty reducing activities.

Background: Lifestyle-related chronic disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States, accounting for more than 63% of deaths. Minority communities experience a disproportionate burden of adverse health outcomes related to these diseases. Collaborative partnerships with faith-based organizations (FBO) present a unique platform to effectively implement lifestyle-related health programs, especially in minority communities. Studies have consistently recognized a growing need to improve FBO capacity and readiness to design, deliver, and sustain programs more effectively. Methods: This research includes three phases: 1) preliminary research to gain the perspective of FBO, community, health and research partners actively involved in development and implementation of a collaborative lifestyle-related faith-based health program and to further explore capacity and readiness factors; 2) formative research to develop, pilot, revise, and improve content, format, measures, and implementation of a mixed methods questionnaire, Capacity and Readiness Church Health Assessment (CRCHA), that will further identify and assess FBO organizational capacity and readiness to implement lifestyle-related health and wellness programs; and 3) culminating research to pilot the CRCHA with descriptive and statistical analysis of associations between church characteristics and health programming. Results: Phase 1: Eighteen of 31 capacity and readiness factors were collectively rated as extremely important to participant roles and partnership experience. Qualitative analysis further contextualizes these factors. Phase 2: The CRCHA comprises four major sections with thirteen subsections to gather information about factors, characteristics, and attributes deemed relevant to FBO organizational capacity and readiness. Phase 3: Churches of varying size and capacity successfully completed the CRCHA. Data indicate potential utility for individual churches for self-assessment and capacity and readiness building and for researchers to identify church characteristics most strongly associated with effective health programming. Implications: Exploration of capacity and readiness within a larger and more diverse group of FBO will help to further identify capacity and readiness factors to facilitate active FBO participation in the development and implementation of effective lifestyle-related health and wellness programs. Thus, FBO would be better positioned to actively lead and/or partner in faith-based health programs that address their community's most pressing health issues. / Ph. D.