Commonly Asked Questions About Evidence Based Progams
What is an Evidence-Based Program?
The EPICC Project offers FBOs programs that are most likely to improve health. Evidence-based means there is research that has shown these programs can help people make positive health changes. The term also means that people who have completed the program found it to be valuable.
Why would my FBO want to offer an evidence-based program?
FBOs are great places to support people in improving their lives – spiritually and physically. Together, as a congregation, we can learn to take better care of our “temple” – our body. When we have health programs we can join with people from our congregation, we can learn to take better care of our bodies and be good role models to others around us. We are learning and working together to improve our health so we can serve our congregation and its ministry.
How would we pick the best program for our church?
The EPICC team has identified six evidence-based health programs that can be offered in a FBO at little or no cost, and that do not require a health care provider such as a nurse or doctor. You will see the programs we have found are on national health organization websites. Most of these programs are focused on eating more fruits and vegetables and/or increasing physical activity. What we eat and how much activity we get is associated with higher risks for being overweight, high blood pressure, heart disease, high blood sugar, kidney disease, and depression – just to name a few.
Each EPICC Partner congregation will be given information about these programs, including websites where you can get more information. The EPICC Team will choose a program they think will be helpful for improving the health of their congregation.
How do we decide what health issues are important to the people in our community?
Each congregation will develop a team of three to five people that includes a coordinator for its involvement in the EPICC Project. This team will work with the pastor and the members of the congregation to choose the program that best fits that church’s needs and interests at this time. The team might conduct a survey and ask members of the congregation what they think are the biggest health problems for their members. The team might think about behaviors they have read about or discussed with others that could improve health. Or they may know people who been diagnosed with a disease, and members would like to know more about prevention. The team could choose a program from this list with a focus on the health topic that kept coming up during any of these methods!
The team can look at the descriptions of all six programs and decide a certain program sounds like something that would interest the congregation’s members. Each program’s description includes a website for more information, the health conditions that each program can improve or prevent, the groups in the church involved (children, adults, families, etc.), and the length of the program. For some programs, the program is designed for a team to decide on the number of sessions and the overall time frame.
Here’s the bottom line to pick a health program:
- Decide on the two to four member team plus the Coordinator to head up the program and planning in your church.
- Include your pastor throughout the stages of doing the program.
- Identify health concerns of your specific church – there are a lot of ways to do this!
- Look through the health programs on the website or in the brochure and find one or two that you think are the most helpful for your church. Go to the websites and look at the materials.
- Make a decision on what health program your church will start their health journey doing! There are no right or wrong choices. Getting people to think and do more to improve their health and reduce their risks is a benefit no matter what the chosen program is this time! You can always pick another health program when this one is done!
How might our congregation benefit if we offer a health promotion program?
What might happen in your congregation if one person starts making healthier choices? What might happen in the family of that one person? What might happen if people in your congregation become more knowledgeable about how to support one another in healthy behavior choices? EPICC was designed to help congregations offer evidence-based health promotion programs in FBOs because these are places where people come for support and encouragement. These programs provide a path and step-by-step guidance for supporting healthy behaviors.
This process of thinking about health, selecting a program, and planning on how to offer the program in your congregation can be fun and a way to build teams to achieve your goals! We want to know what you think about the process, the programs, and anything that could make it better! Please call Rebecca Selove, our EPICC project leader, at 615-963-2558, or email her at EPICC@tnstate.edu if you have questions or want to offer suggestions.