Since the civil rights era, Mississippi's churches have been incubators for change and progress. It is a shared desire on the part of the faith community and the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi(PHM) to promote healthy behavior among the state's young people. Responding to a demand from churches to become involved in anti tobacco programs, the Partnership awarded over $350,000 in grants to 154 faith-based organizations statewide over a period of two funding cycles. The Partnership trained church leaders to conduct five life-skill sessions with over 23 hours of educational activities for youth in grades 4-7. Using our SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) program as a template, churches created unique programs that addressed the needs of their communities. Youth participants designed posters, wrote skits and initiated community service activities giving them the opportunity to display what they had learned. Evaluation data from pre and post tests and daily journals show that knowledge and skill levels among youth increased. Indepth themes included: values and self-esteem, health consequences of tobacco use, decision-making skills, communication skills and conflict resolution skills to resist peer pressure. An expansion during the second funding cycle led to the addition of an adolescent-based cesssation program and a minister's kit that made implementing the program easier.
Learning Objectives: 1. Learn the program model used in the faith community 2. Take away do's and don'ts of program implementation 3. Receive empirical and anecdotal evaluative data 4. Identify methods to integrate programs that are faith driven not dictated
Keywords: Faith Community, Underserved Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.