Health Promotion for the Elderly: Training Black Clergy in Entrepreneurial Spirituality

The black elderly are disproportionately impacted by the health care crisis in the United States. Historically, the black church and black clergy—long considered the vanguards of the black community—have played important roles in addressing the health problems of the black elderly. Innovative models are needed to provide solutions for elderly health issues and to create a sustainable infrastructure for long-term health promotion. Entrepreneurial spirituality, a concept that seeks to understand how spirituality can impact an entrepreneur's decision making, is proposed as a framework for black clergy to develop a health education and training program for black elderly. This article provides an overview of the black elderly population, describes entrepreneurial spirituality in the context of building strategic alliances and partnerships to address pressing health needs, and gives recommendations for first steps in developing an education and training program.

[1]  Linda S. Behar-Horenstein,et al.  The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive , 2010 .

[2]  Adam Brandenburger,et al.  Co-Opetition: A Revolutionary Mindset that Combines Competition and Cooperation , 2008 .

[3]  T. Carey,et al.  Racially Disproportionate Admission Rates for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions in North Carolina , 2007, Public health reports.

[4]  K. Umble,et al.  Management academy for public health: creating entrepreneurial managers. , 2007, American journal of public health.

[5]  S. Mims.  A sustainable behavioral health program integrated with public health primary care. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[6]  E. Baker,et al.  The crucible of public health practice: major trends shaping the design of the Management Academy for Public Health. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[7]  B. Rosen,et al.  Evaluating the impact of the Management Academy for Public Health: developing entrepreneurial managers and organizations. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[8]  Bertram E Walls.  The Management Academy for Public Health: transforming the business of healthcare. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[9]  S. Hassmiller,et al.  Creating the Management Academy for Public Health: relationships are primary. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[10]  Scotten Es,et al.  Creating community-based access to primary healthcare for the uninsured through strategic alliances and restructuring local health department programs. , 2006 .

[11]  Linda Resnik,et al.  Obesity in Nursing Homes: An Escalating Problem , 2005, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[12]  D. Foster.  The encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell movement : Christian church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ , 2005 .

[13]  Moses V. Goldmon,et al.  Churches, academic institutions, and public health: partnerships to eliminate health disparities. , 2004, North Carolina medical journal.

[14]  E. Vittinghoff,et al.  Racial differences in the progression from chronic renal insufficiency to end-stage renal disease in the United States. , 2003, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN.

[15]  B. Yates,et al.  Key elements for church-based health promotion programs: outcome-based literature review. , 2002, Public health nursing.

[16]  K. Manton,et al.  Changes in the prevalence of chronic disability in the United States black and nonblack population above age 65 from 1982 to 1999 , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  J. Smylie.  The Preacher , 2001, Off the Books.

[18]  R. Braithwaite,et al.  Building Health Coalitions in the Black Community , 1999 .

[19]  O. Miles,et al.  Organizational Characteristics Facilitating Initiation and Institutionalization of Physical Activity Programs in a Multiethnic Urban Community , 1999 .

[20]  M. Schechter.  The Black American Elderly: Research on Psysical and Psychosocial Health , 1989 .

[21]  S. Milligan,et al.  Access to health care in a black urban elderly population. , 1988, The Gerontologist.

[22]  T. Walker.  :The Black Church in America: African American Christian Spirituality , 2009 .

[23]  E. S. L. Scotten,et al.  Creating community-based access to primary healthcare for the uninsured through strategic alliances and restructuring local health department programs. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[24]  J. Reis,et al.  The religious community as a partner in health care , 2005, Journal of Community Health.

[25]  J. W. Reed,et al.  The Metabolic Syndrome in African Americans: a review. , 2003, Ethnicity & disease.

[26]  R. Braithwaite,et al.  The Black Faith Community and Public Health , 2000 .

[27]  Arnold D. Weigel.  Leading change in the congregation: spiritual and organizational tools for leaders , 2000 .

[28]  T. Baranowski,et al.  Dietary change through African American churches: baseline results and program description of the eat for life trial. , 2000, Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education.

[29]  Margaret Edmunds,et al.  BOARD ON HEALTH CARE SERVICES INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE , 1998 .