A University-Church-Community Look at Community Health Using Community-Based-Participatory Research

Abstract

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-method approach using quantitative methods followed by qualitative inquiry was to assess a Southern California community’s perception of its health and of barriers to improving health. The qualitative aspects of this mixed-method CBPR project by a church-university-community partnership further describe member perceptions of their community and contributors/barriers to community health. Four focus group interviews were conducted over eight months at two elementary schools with the mothers of school children (N = 21) in the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 school years, including one Spanish-only group. Four themes emerged, describing the contributors and barriers to community health and well-being: lack of connection, poor communication, fear/anxiety, and lack of access to affordable healthcare. The findings highlight how small anchor institutions, those whose primary mission is not health (church, school, trailer park, local businesses, etc.), can be facilitators of health and address these disruptions of connectivity, communication, and care present within the healthcare system itself, and its disappointed community recipients of “care”. The church as a community of care, in collaboration with educational institutions, is suited to invite community participation, affirm humanness, build trust, and offer increased access to care in the neighborhoods surrounding its location.