Qualitative Inquiry of African American Female Church Leaders on Facilitators and Barriers of Conducting Adult Health Programs Within African American Churches: A Pilot Study Using a Socioecological Perspective Within the United States.

Despite the success of health programs conducted within African American (AA) churches, research has been limited in understanding the facilitators and barriers of conducting adult health programs in churches led by female AA pastors/leaders. In addition, research has yet to analyze the effect of policy on these church-based health programs. Thus, this pilot study's objective is to use the socio-ecological model (SEM) as a framework to explore female AA pastors' and church leaders' perspectives, in the U.S., on facilitators and barriers that exist when conducting adult health programs within their congregations. Using snowball sampling to recruit AA female church leaders and pastors (n = 6), semi-structured interviews were conducted with study participants. Data were then transcribed and analyzed using First and Second Cycle coding to identify themes. Nine themes emerged from the data, and after stratifying the themes according to the SEM, this study found that facilitators and barriers exist at the intrapersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels of the SEM. It is important for these factors to be considered to ensure that health programs led by AA women pastors/leaders are successful within AA churches. Study limitations and the need for further research are also noted.

Teaching Person-Centered Care and Interprofessional Collaboration through a Virtual Mental Health World Café: A Mixed Methods IPE Pilot Project.

The purpose of this convergent mixed methods interprofessional education (IPE) pilot project was to help health profession students gain valuable insight about the experiences of people living with mental illness, to help them have a better understanding of person-centered care and have greater knowledge about the importance of interprofessional collaboration. A developmental workgroup which consisted of mental health consumers, four interdisciplinary students, and our team developed and implemented a virtual Mental Health World Café IPE event. Twelve other students attended the World Café event. A paired sample t-test was used to examine group differences between pre- and post-test scores for the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale and the Texas AHEC Survey measures among the four student leaders and the 12 student participants of the virtual Mental Health World Cafe. We conducted individual interviews with the four student leaders and collected reflective journals from the 12 students who attended the World Café event. We examined to what extent the statistically significant quantitative results supported the qualitative results separately for the student leaders and for the student participants of the virtual World Café. We also examined how both the quantitative and qualitative findings aligned with the key components of the Patient-Centered Care in Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Model. While the project allowed the students to reflect upon how they may apply the principles of person-centered care and interprofessional collaboration, the impact of the consumers on the student's experiences was profound and resulted in widespread engagement of the students who attended the event.

Facilitators and Barriers When Conducting Adult Health Programs Within the African American Church: A Systematic Review.

Despite the success of health programs conducted within African American (AA) churches, research has been limited in understanding facilitators and barriers that exist when conducting adult health programs within AA churches. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the literature to identify these facilitators and barriers. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and studies that met the eligibility criteria were divided based on their focus: disease topic or behavior, health promotion activities, or church readiness. Facilitators and barriers were also stratified using the socioecological model. Out of 288 articles initially identified, only 29 were included. Facilitators and barriers were predominantly found at the intrapersonal and organizational level for disease topic or behavior studies, and at the organizational level for studies focused on health promotion activities and church readiness. None of the articles identified facilitators and barriers at the policy level.

Supporting community health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how the COVID-19 Project ECHO program may have influenced the mental health of community health workers (CHWs) from South Texas. The program was designed around case-based learning and mentorship to provide support to CHWs and help them gain expertise to provide services to their communities. DESIGN: An explanatory sequential mixed methods pilot study. SAMPLE: Fifteen CHWs who were enrolled in the program participated in this study. MEASUREMENTS: The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to measure the differences pre- and post-intervention. Qualitative description was used to explore the experiences of the participating CHWs. RESULTS: The PSS post-test mean (12.53) showed a statistically significant decrease from the pretest mean (17.01) (t (14 = 2.456, p = .028). The CHWs explained that the death of loved ones, feelings of isolation, and work-related concerns influenced their mental health. CHWs expressed that the program provided them with emotional support and resources for their clients. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disadvantaged and medically underserved areas will be long-lasting; therefore, the need is greater than ever for CHWs to receive mental health support and be able to connect communities with vital resources.

Developing and implementing a co-curricular IPE program: AHEC Scholars Program.

As part of a new directive, the Human Resources Services Administration (HRSA) mandated Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Programs across the nation to implement an interprofessional education (IPE) program for health professional students, with the goal of fostering collaborative practice among health profession students and motivating students to work in medically underserved areas post-graduation. The South Texas AHEC Program collaboratively developed and implemented a co-curricular IPE initiative, the AHEC Scholars Program, including didactic and practicum components, focused on the needs of communities in our area. A pre-post quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the student outcomes related to IPEC Competencies and knowledge and preparation for the practice of core topic areas mandated by HRSA. Student outcomes showed statistically significant improvement in all measures. In order to obtain more detailed accounts of students' practicum experiences, students were asked to complete reflective journals after each practicum. The AHEC Scholars Program provides students with opportunities to work with underserved populations and enables students to explore the benefits of team-based care. This article summarizes the collaborative process of the development and implementation of the AHEC Scholars Program; secondly, it details student outcomes from a 3-month pilot study.