The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68290

Joan Kub, PhD, RN, CS¹, Sara Groves, DrPH, RN, CS¹, Jennifer L. Horner, MSN, MPH, RN¹, and Jodee Rudy, BSN, RN². (1) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 N. Wolfe St, Room 452, Baltimore, MD 21205, (2) Pubic Health and Parish Nursing, Frederick County Health Department, 350 Montevue Lane, Frederick, MD 21702

With the nation’s public health infrastructure stressed by inadequate funding, insufficient personnel, and an ever increasing demand for its services, public health officials have sought non-traditional partnerships to assist in achieving their mandate of assessment, assurance, and policy development. The past decade has witnessed innovative collaboration between public health departments and parish nurses who focus on health promotion within faith communities. The Federal government’s recent interest in faith-based initiatives has provided further impetus for such efforts. Despite the increasing popularity of these partnerships, few outcomes studies have been conducted to evaluate their effectiveness. At the request of the Frederick County Health Department we evaluated its Public Health Partners in Parish Nursing Program. We will describe the current activities of 25 parish nurses in this program and examine these activities in relationship to the health needs and priorities of the county. We will also present our recommendations for further development of this program with the goal of integrating the parish nurse activities into the county’s health plan.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe an innovative partnership between a health department and local parish nurses.
• Identify activities of the parish nurses working with this program
• Discuss future role of parish nurses in achieving county health outcomes.

Keywords: Collaboration, Faith Community

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Frederick County Health Department Frederick, MD
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.