Assessing the Readiness of Black Churches to Engage in Health Disparities Research

We assessed church readiness to engage in health disparities research using a newly developed instrument, examined the correlates of readiness, and described strategies that churches used to promote health. We pilot tested the instrument with churches in a church-academic partnership (n = 12). We determined level of readiness to engage in research and assessed correlates of readiness. We also conducted interviews with participating pastors to explore strategies they had in place to support research engagement. Churches scored fairly high in readiness (average of 4.04 out of 5). Churches with a pastor who promoted the importance of good nutrition in a sermon or had a budget for health-related activities had significantly higher readiness scores than churches without such practices. Having a tool to evaluate church readiness to engage in research will inform targeted technical assistance and research projects that will strengthen church-academic partnerships and improve capacity to address health disparities.