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Although African Americans have a lower incidence of many mental health disorders, they continue to have poorer mental health prognoses and worse treatment outcomes than non-Hispanic Whites. Many African Americans prefer informal church support and rely on religious coping instead of visiting specialty mental health clinics for mental and emotional problems. As a result, Black churches may continue to be a preferred resource for mental health services among African Americans. However, the ability of Black churches to meet their community's mental health needs is unclear. This article argues for the need to explore the organizational capacity of Black churches to promote mental health and provides a brief review of the literature and theory regarding mental health promotion, existing church-based programs, and models of capacity building in an attempt to answer these questions. A guide for assessing the organizational capacity of Black churches is provided and the concept of capacity building is introduced. This work will inform the development and implementation of church-based mental health efforts.
Keywords: Black church, organization, capacity, mental health, African Americans
AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE POORER MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES THAN Whites (Atdjian & Vega, 2005; American Psychiatric Association Fact Sheet (APAF) Office of Minority and National Affairs, 2010) and they are less likely to seek help from a professional (Snowden, 2001; Barrio, et al." 2003; Wang, Lane, Olfson, Pincus, Wells, & Kessler, 2005; Gonzalez, Alegría, Prihoda, Copeland, & Zeber, 2011). Racial disparities in mental health care faced by African Americans are both a social justice problem and a public health concern because untreated mental illness is associated with individual and societal burden (e.g. loss of earning potential, increased mortality, decreased quality of life) (Kessler et al, 2001). To reduce disparities in mental health care and improve outcomes for African Americans, it is important to consider the role of interventions in community settings, such as churches (Campbell et al, 2007).
Black churches are enduring and trusted institutions in the African American community (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990) and many successful health promotion interventions have been implemented in collaboration with Black churches (Hankerson & Weissman, 2012). However there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of church-based interventions and the capacity of Black churches to tackle mental health issues. Thus, this paper explores the following...