Churches, academic institutions, and public health: partnerships to eliminate health disparities

The four principles represent a framework for improving the process of establishing sustainable partnerships between research, public health, and faith-based institutions that seek to eliminate health disparities. To improve the efficacy of partnerships with churches identification of potential partner churches must be deliberate, trusting relationships must be built, divergent perspectives must be communicated and reconciled, and some tangible power should be transferred to church and community leaders where feasible. We applaud the National Institutes of Health, through the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities', efforts to "promote coordination and collaboration among the agencies conducting or supporting minority health or other health disparities research." We recommend that the North Carolina Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities be charged with and provided adequate resources to facilitate this type of coordination and collaboration among North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services agencies that are disparities conducting or supporting minority health and health research. A special emphasis should be placed on partnerships that seek to engage communities of faith.