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Faith and health merge in new program

By Shaun Lane
UMConnection Staff

There has seldom been any doubt about the vital relationship between body and soul, but a new initiative in Baltimore is breaking new ground as it brings health care into the sanctuary.

Dr. Anthony Accurso recognized this new approach to faith and health as he scanned the students in his class, choosing his words carefully. He was about to begin a lecture on the relationship between primary care physicians and their patients. He wanted to keep it simple and easy to understand.

Accurso, an internal medicine physician at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, taught his students how to properly prepare for a visit to their primary care physician and improve their relationship with their doctor. He suggested that people make a list of important questions before their appointments, being open and honest, and voicing their concerns and beliefs.

Accurso’s class wasn’t comprised of medical students or young, eager physicians. He was teaching a free class as part of the medical center’s new Lay Health Educator program, which provides training and resources to laity from churches in Baltimore City and County to become health care ambassadors for their communities.

The program is part of Johns Hopkins Bayview’s new Healthy Community Partnership initiative, which joins with local churches to improve community health by addressing health care disparities, improving access to medical care and offering educational programs.

The Rev. Dred Scott of St. Matthews UMC in Baltimore is a key clergy member of this initiative and hosts monthly presentations during a designated Sunday worship service. Wesley Theological Seminary and members of the conference’s Hope for the City initiative are also in discussions to see how they can become more involved.

“We don’t give medical advice, but we are advocates for people who are uneducated about the process of how to effectively relate to their doctors,” said Scott. “We are developing a revolutionary approach with how churches and hospitals can partner to improve the health care process for all.”

Dan Hale, the founder of the program and an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said one of the primary groups to benefit from this program will be those who have to care for themselves at home.

“With the aging of the population, we have an everincreasing number of people with chronic medical conditions said Hale, co-author of the book, “Building Healthy Communities Through Medical-Religious Partnerships.”

“Currently there are more than 135 million Americans with a chronic condition – half of these have two or more – and this number is expected to rise to 160 million by 2020.  When you look at chronic conditions, you realize that most of the care for these conditions is not provided by doctors in their offices or in hospitals but by patients in their own homes.  Diabetes is an excellent example. 

Doctors are still essential to good medical care, but patients have the day-to-day responsibility for monitoring and managing their conditions.  Health care professionals recognize this and also understand that to provide good self-care you need reliable, easy-to-comprehend information.  Health professionals need to find a way to reach these individuals, and that’s what this program does.

“Most churches have many individuals who are drawn to healing ministries – some serve on special committees or as deacons – but often they have not had the training, resources and support needed to have the impact they would like to have,” Hale said.  These programs equip and empower such individuals. 

“No less important, is the central role of relationships.  The program is built on relationships and a genuine desire to understand the needs and concerns of the congregation and community.  We – the health professionals – get to know the congregations and they get to know us,” Hale added.

Lay Health Educators, as the students of the class are called, receive easy-to-digest information on a number of health topics, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, depression, dementia and medication management. It allows the community to get information from people it knows, trusts and understands.

“This partnership, I feel, is a movement from God for us to provide this health and faith connection,” said Katherine Scott, the lay health educator for St. Matthews. “Making healthy choices is a choice. With small steps we are moving toward becoming healthier.”

Upon completion of the program, Scott will occassionally return with her classmates to Johns Hopkins Bayview to meet with instructors and share experiences.

Several physicians, including Dr. Hale and Dr. Renee Blanding, an anesthesiologist and vice president of medical affairs at Johns Hopkins Bayview, have visited and made presentations at St. Matthews during Sunday worship.

The forums range from heart health to cancer and everything in between. It also allows for church members to ask questions and engage directly with the physicians. Dr. Hale said the long and short term effects of this program will have a positive impact on the community.

“You will have more people staying healthy, and when they do become ill, they will have the information and support they need to obtain the right care in the right place at the right time,” Hale said. “You will have people able to live in their homes longer and avoid or delay moving to long-term care facilities.  As these things happen, we will be able to free up some health care dollars to be spent on other pressing health concerns.

Katherine Scott said she is clearly seeing a difference at St. Matthews and the community it serves.

“At one worship service, Dr. Blanding was talking about the amount of sugar grams in a can of soda and the kids were surprised to see how much sugar there is in soda,” she said. “Many vowed to stop drinking soda after Dr. Blanding was finished. I see our community making some efforts to improve their health choices. We are focusing on things like reducing stress and eating more fruits and vegetables during our fellowship meals. We are encouraging our youth and older adults to exercise more, starting and maintaining a vegetable garden and breaking habits like smoking and overeating.

“The training that I have received has shown me a deeper connection between heart and brain health. I am seeing the need for the faith communities to begin thinking out of the box and do ministries that actually can save lives,” she said. “I see the future medical and faith connection being real.”