Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 20, Issue 5, 2018, Pages 1075-1084

Acceptability of Friday Sermons as a Modality for Health Promotion and Education (Article)

Padela A.I.* , Malik S. , Ahmed N.
  • a Initiative on Islam and Medicine, Program on Medicine and Religion, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, 5841 S Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States, Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, Section of Emergency Medicine and General Internal Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
  • b Initiative on Islam and Medicine, Program on Medicine and Religion, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, 5841 S Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
  • c Initiative on Islam and Medicine, Program on Medicine and Religion, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, 5841 S Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States, Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Abstract

Our objective was to assess the acceptability and feasibility of using sermons for health promotion in American Muslim mosque communities by deploying a tailored sermon in two mosque communities. With input from a community advisory board and resident imams, sermons communicated four health-related themes: (i) good health is a grant from Allah, (ii) one’s body is trust and must be cared for, (iii) trusting in God’s plan does not preclude taking actions to care for oneself, and (iv) community members are caretakers of one another. Self-administered, post-sermon questionnaires asked attendees about the acceptability of the sermon and the sermon-giver, and to identify survey themes. Data analyses involved descriptive statistics and regression modeling to assess variance in acceptability across race/ethnicity and gender. Of the 235 respondents, the majority found the sermon content acceptable and desired to hear health-based sermons more often (72 and 67% respectively). There were no significant differences in acceptability of sermon or sermon-giver by gender or race/ethnicity. Our study demonstrates that theologically-framed health messaging is acceptable within sermons in American Muslim mosque communities. This study underscores the potential utility of mosque sermons for health education programs and for health behavior interventions in American mosques. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Author Keywords

Religion and health Sermons Health promotion Community intervention Health education Community-based participatory research

Index Keywords

health promotion Islam human middle aged health status Aged Young Adult Humans psychology Trust Adolescent male female Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice organization and management adult health education participatory research Community-Based Participatory Research decision making attitude to health
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85027675632&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-017-0647-8&partnerID=40&md5=4d005b9a697178a0529edbcbb00964cb
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-017-0647-8
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English