Faith Beliefs of African American Church Leaders Are Aligned With the Principles of Palliative and Hospice Care: A Community-Based Assessment and Intervention

Background: African American (AA) church leaders often advise AAs with serious and life-limiting illnesses (LLIs). Objectives: 1) determine beliefs of AA church leaders about palliative care and hospice care (PCHC), 2) assess association of participants' attitude about encouraging a loved one to learn about PCHC with whether PC or HC is consistent with faith beliefs and can reduce suffering and bring comfort, and 3) evaluate an interactive, educational intervention. Design: prospective, one group, pre and post assessment of beliefs and attitudes Settings/Subjects: 100 church leaders from 3 AA Churches and one AA Church Consortium. Results: At baseline, participants held more receptive beliefs about HC than about PC. Those who reported knowing the meaning of PC believed PC is consistent with their faith (81% vs 28%, phi=.53) and can reduce suffering and bring comfort (86% vs 38%, phi =.50). Participants who believed PC was consistent with their faith were more likely to encourage a loved one with a LLI to learn about PCHC than did participants who did not (100% vs 77%, phi =.39, p < 0.001). Post intervention, more participants: 1) perceived that they knew the meaning of PC (48% vs 96%), 2) viewed PC as consistent with their faith (58% vs. 94%), and 3) viewed PC as a means to reduce suffering and bring comfort (67% vs 93%) with a p < 0.0001 for each item. The post intervention results for HC were variable. Conclusions: Faith beliefs of AA Church leaders may be aligned with the principles of PCHC.