About EPICC

What is the overall goal of the EPICC Project?

The goal of the Engaging Partners in Caring Communities (EPICC) Project is to learn with congregations that serve African American communities how they can expand their ability to provide evidence-based health promotion programs to their congregants. We have developed this online platform with tools that we hope many congregations can use to provide effective and free health promotion programs for their communities.

Who is paying for the work?

The EPICC Project is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), a federal agency that is committed to promoting health equity. CHEN staff, the academic faculty, and NIMHD recognize that many circumstances contribute to higher rates of health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, among African Americans. The Project is designed to work with churches that serve African Americans.

How can our faith-based organization (FBO) be involved in the EPICC Project?

Up to 100 congregations in Davidson County, Tennessee that serve primarily African American communities are eligible to participate in the next phase of the EPICC Project. This includes selecting a health promotion program and completing the EPICC Survey. Each participating FBO will receive a written report of their survey responses with suggested strategies for offering the health promotion program they selected to their congregation.

Congregational leaders and interested members will be invited to participate in an orientation program. The program will describe:

  • How the FBO will identify a primary contact to coordinate the FBO’s involvement in EPICC;
  • The primary contact and 2-4 members of the congregation will agree to serve as the survey response team for the project;
  • The team will be given information about five research-tested health promotion programs that the team might want to offer to its members. They will be asked to select one for this Project;
  • After the congregation’s leader completes a contract for participation, the team will complete the online EPICC Survey that asks for information about the FBO’s size, experience offering health-related programs, and other related questions;
  • The team will meet with EPICC staff who will provide a Survey Results Report and ask members of the team about the accuracy and usefulness of the Report in describing their church.

If your church participates in the first phase of the EPICC Project, you will receive the following:

  • Your congregation will learn about health promotion programs that are designed for community organizations to deliver, with materials that are available and free.
  • Your team will receive a report based on your responses to an online survey that will describe your congregation’s strengths and possible challenges you will face in implementing the health promotion program you selected.
  • Congregations that complete the survey and provide feedback about the Survey Results Report will have opportunities to learn more about the next phase of the project.

What happens next?

After participating congregations have completed their survey, the EPICC Staff will invite up to 39 congregations to participate in the next phase of the research project. The research project will involve congregations that represent at least four different denominations, vary in size, and vary in the kinds of health promotion experience their teams identified. These 39 congregations will be invited to participate in another phase of the research project as research partners with the EPICC staff. CHEN will continue to be involved with all EPICC Project participants as they take steps to improve access to health promotion programs and services for their congregations.

How will our FBO benefit from being part of the EPICC Project?

EPICC congregations will:

  • Learn how evidence-based programs to promote health are developed, and what are their advantages over programs that have not been tested.
  • Gain knowledge about specific evidence-based programs to promote health, including ones developed for faith-based organizations.
  • Obtain health-based program materials for the evidence-based program chosen by FBO members, and some guidance for setting it up in their congregation.
  • Have access to the web-based EPICC Survey to be completed by the congregation’s EPICC team. This Survey was designed to identify the congregation’s strengths and resources for offering a health promotion program, as well as some challenges the church team might face for delivering a health-based program to the congregation.
  • Receive a written report of the results of the EPICC Survey and the opportunity to meet with members of the research team to discuss its accuracy and usefulness, as well as suggestions for how to use the results in planning.
  • Continue to have access to this website as it is updated for FBOs that serve African American congregations, with input from community members. It will be updated with information and ideas from EPICC congregations and others for offering evidence-based health promotion programs in faith-based organizations.