Bowie, Janice

The FAITH! (Fostering African-American Improvement in Total Health) Cardiovascular Health and Wellness Program is more than a decade-long community-based participatory research initiative aimed at addressing cardiovascular health disparities among African-Americans in Minnesota. Founded in 2013, the program employs a culturally tailored, community-driven approach by partnering with African-American faith communities to promote cardiovascular health through education, digital health tools, and multilevel interventions targeting the social determinants of health. Grounded in community-based participatory research principles, FAITH! prioritizes equitable academic-community partnerships, co-learning, community capacity building, and shared ownership in all aspects of research and implementation. The program’s exemplary innovations include the NIH-funded FAITH! Trial, a randomized clinical trial, testing a mobile health intervention (the FAITH! App) co-created with the African-American community, and the Techquity by FAITH! study. Techquity by FAITH! evaluates the effectiveness of a culturally relevant, community-informed mHealth intervention supported by a Digital Health Advocate network to improve overall cardiovascular health and digital health literacy. During its evolution, FAITH! has addressed emergent public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, by adapting programming to provide emergency preparedness resources, health education, and vaccine outreach. Key outcomes include sustainable church-based health ministries, increased research participation, and successful translation of research into practice. The program has also contributed to research workforce development by mentoring and training diverse early-career scholars and community leaders in community-based participatory research and cardiovascular health equity research. Lessons learned highlight the transformative impact of community-based participatory research in building trust, facilitating culturally relevant dissemination, and sustaining health equity initiatives. The FAITH! model demonstrates a scalable, community-led strategy for advancing cardiovascular health in underserved populations and provides a blueprint for future initiatives aiming to reduce racial health disparities.

Background Religiosity/spirituality is a major coping mechanism for African Americans, but no prior studies have analyzed its association with the American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 (LS7) indicators in this group. Methods and Results This cross‐sectional study using Jackson Heart Study (JHS) data examined relationships between religiosity (religious attendance, private prayer, religious coping) and spirituality (theistic, nontheistic, total) with LS7 individual components (eg, physical activity, diet, smoking, blood pressure) and composite score among African Americans. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the odds of achieving intermediate/ideal (versus poor) LS7 levels adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioral, and biomedical factors. Among the 2967 participants (mean [SD] age=54.0 [12.3] years; 65.7% women), higher religious attendance was associated with increased likelihood (reported as odds ratio [95% CI]) of achieving intermediate/ideal levels of physical activity (1.16 [1.06–1.26]), diet (1.10 [1.01–1.20]), smoking (1.50 [1.34–1.68]), blood pressure (1.12 [1.01–1.24]), and LS7 composite score (1.15 [1.06–1.26]). Private prayer was associated with increased odds of achieving intermediate/ideal levels for diet (1.12 [1.03–1.22]) and smoking (1.24 [1.12–1.39]). Religious coping was associated with increased odds of achieving intermediate/ideal levels of physical activity (1.18 [1.08–1.28]), diet (1.10 [1.01–1.20]), smoking (1.32 [1.18–1.48]), and LS7 composite score (1.14 [1.04–1.24]). Total spirituality was associated with increased odds of achieving intermediate/ideal levels of physical activity (1.11 [1.02–1.21]) and smoking (1.36 [1.21–1.53]). Conclusions Higher levels of religiosity/spirituality were associated with intermediate/ideal cardiovascular health across multiple LS7 indicators. Reinforcement of religiosity/spirituality in lifestyle interventions may decrease overall cardiovascular disease risk among African Americans.