Connecting Faith and Public Health

Healthy Churches 2030 Conference provides pastors, ministers, congregational health directors, coordinators, nurses, and members with tools and resources in areas of disease state awareness, management and prevention needed to establish and strengthen the capacity of Health Ministries.

Conference topics include, but not limited to: disaster preparedness, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, arthritis, hepatitis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, HIV, precision medicine, and clinical studies.

Healthy Churches 2030 Annual Conference is committed to helping congregational-based health ministries to improve the health and healthcare outcomes of individuals and surrounding communities they serve.

Conference Brochure

Register Now Click Here!

Do you find that you make an appointment with your healthcare provider, only to forget half your questions once you’re in the exam room? Does your healthcare provider ask you questions during a visit that you can’t answer? Preparing for a healthcare provider visit can help you get the most out of it.

“We at Zing Health view annual wellness visits as an opportunity for our members to engage with their Primary Care Physician (PCP), to assess current health, and identify health goals for the coming year,” says Shari Mason, Zing Health Director of Quality Management. “We believe that the annual wellness visit is part of an ongoing relationship between our members and their PCP. The outcomes can help the PCP create a personalized health plan to address any current concerns and identify ways of preventing problems in the future.”

At a minimum, you should prepare for a visit by writing down a list of questions you have and things you want to remember to tell your provider. Be prepared to mention how you have been feeling since your last visit, and speak up about any changes you’ve noticed, new symptoms you have, or anything else the healthcare provider should know.

If your PCP is new to you or if there have been changes since your last visit, you should also bring a list of the medicines you take and information about your family history. If you are also seeing other healthcare providers, bring copies of relevant records and test results, plus contact information for these providers.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as: “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.”

It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of health outcomes are attributable to social determinants of health, which are generally divided into five categories:

• Economic stability: Poverty, employment, food security, housing stability
• Education: High school graduation, higher education, language and literacy, early childhood
• Social and community context: Social cohesion, civic participation, discrimination, incarceration
• Health and healthcare: Access to healthcare and primary care, health literacy
• Neighborhood and built environment: Access to healthy foods, quality of housing, crime and violence, environmental conditions

Another way of looking at social determinants of health is by dividing them into categories that correlate with the amount of influence they have on your health:

• 10% physical environment (air and water quality, housing, transit)
• 20% clinical care (access, quality)
• 30% health behaviors (diet, exercise, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use)
• 40% social and economic factors (education, employment, income, community safety, family and social support)

Doctors and public health researchers now understand more than ever the role these outside factors play in the health of not just the community, but the individuals within it.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones. Weakened bones are more likely to break. Osteoporosis affects both men and women, but postmenopausal women are most at risk. This is because after menopause, the body makes less estrogen, which increases bone loss.

In later years, both men and women need to take extra care of their bones because the body loses more bone than it makes. Both the quality and quantity of bone declines in older people. This is why prevention of osteoporosis, which includes exercise and a healthy diet, is important. So is screening for osteoporosis, and if screening finds your bones are thinning, following your doctor’s treatment and lifestyle recommendations.

You Can Prevent Osteoporosis

To help prevent osteoporosis and fractures, you need to exercise and nourish your bones throughout your life. The earlier you begin staying active and increasing your calcium intake, the more bone loss you can prevent.

Exercise is vital for your bone health at any age. It can prevent bone fractures and spine changes by slowing bone loss. Exercise will also strengthen the muscles that support and protect your bones. It can also be fun! A variety of exercises is best:

•  Resistance exercises. These build muscle strength and maintain bone mass. They also make you less prone to injury. Exercises include lifting small weights, doing push-ups and sit-ups, using elastic exercise bands, and using weight machines.
•  Weight-bearing activities. These help your whole body. They also help you maintain bone mass. Activities include walking, dancing, and housework.
•  Non-weight-bearing exercises. These help prevent back strain and pain. They do this by building the trunk and leg muscles. Exercises that help with flexibility can prevent falls. Examples include swimming, water exercise, and stretching.

Before you start a new exercise routine, talk with your healthcare provider to be sure these exercises are right for you.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

Pernessa C. Seele is the founder and CEO of the Balm in Gilead, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that strengthens the capacity of faith institutions in the United States and Africa to promote health education and disease management. Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People, Essence magazine selected her as one of the 35 Most Beautiful and Remarkable Women in the World, and Ebony magazine named her one of its Power 150.

“Stigma” is a simple two-syllable word, yet carries the weight of negative and often unfair beliefs that we hold about each other. Perhaps most tragically, stigmas lock people into stereotyped boxes and deny us all the right to be our authentic and whole selves. We all have the tendency to sit high and look low while proclaiming how progressive we’ve become. However, the reality is that we both perpetuate and experience the burden of stigma in our public and private lives every day.

Informed by decades of in-the-trenches experience, Dr. Pernessa Seele, a longtime public health activist who started one of the first AIDS education programs in the 1980s, has crafted a proven method to address stigma. Stand Up to Stigma looks at the impact of stigma on learning, job performance, economic growth, and healthcare with a major focus on its impact on our everyday, personal lives and well-being.

This powerful book confronts stereotype development, shows how to undo the processes and effects of stigma, and explains how we can radically change cultural thinking on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels to put an end to stigmatization once and for all. If we are honest and committed to exposing the problems, Dr. Seele helps each of us vividly see how we privately stigmatize people whom we see as different from ourselves, particularly when they come from other backgrounds and cultures than our very own.

Dr. Seele imagines a world that few people can. She envisions that by eliminating stigmas about people different from us, we can change representations in the media, get rid of laws and policies targeting stigmatized groups, and overcome inherited biases within public health, religious, education, and other institutions. Dr. Seele believes we must begin to stand up to stigma and set an example for future generations.

“Pernessa’s book can make a difference in your life. In a powerful way, it gets to the heart of a complex issue. Many people stigmatize others without realizing it, and Seele helps readers understand what they can do to change their attitudes and actions.”

—Jeff Pegues, Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent, CBS News, and author of Black and Blue

“We all dream of living in a world without stigma and bias, but a quick glance at the news proves that this is a dream deferred. Pernessa Seele pulls no punches in identifying the cost of stigma and steps to take away the power of stigma and bias.”

—Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, Chairman, Conference on National Black Churches, Inc.

“Dr. Pernessa Seele’s tireless efforts to remove disparities in health care—and wherever we need more understanding and acceptance—is nothing short of inspirational. I will gladly share this book with anyone who questions the toll that stigma takes on our human community—or the path we can take to escape it.”

—John Hope Bryant, Chairman, Operation HOPE

“In sharing cogent reflections based upon her pioneering experiences as a courageous health advocate, Pernessa Seele squarely identifies the societal toll taken by stigma and stereotyping—and delineates the steps we can take to reaffirm the dignity we each innately possess by virtue of our humanity.”

—Natalia Kanem, MD, Acting Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund

“Dr. Seele puts a human face on the consequences of stigma, shows the need to examine our biases, and gives me the uneasy personal reminder that as a public health official and researcher, I must drive outside my lane of numbers and statistics.”

—Willi McFarland, MD, PhD, MPH&TM, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, and Director, Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco Department of Public Health

“The Balm In Gilead founded by Dr. Pernessa Seele has saved lives in the United States, Africa and beyond. Through education, treatment and prevention, Pernessa has enabled tens of thousands to walk the earth with health, hope and wholeness. We are blessed to have Dr. Seele’s narrative of healthcare and wellness in a wounded world.”

—Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. International pastor, theologian, speaker, author,

and activist

To Purchase Her Book On Amazon Click Here!

Do you find that you make an appointment with your healthcare provider, only to forget half your questions once you’re in the exam room? Does your healthcare provider ask you questions during a visit that you can’t answer? Preparing for a healthcare provider visit can help you get the most out of it.

“We at Zing Health view annual wellness visits as an opportunity for our members to engage with their Primary Care Physician (PCP), to assess current health, and identify health goals for the coming year,” says Shari Mason, Zing Health Director of Quality Management. “We believe that the annual wellness visit is part of an ongoing relationship between our members and their PCP. The outcomes can help the PCP create a personalized health plan to address any current concerns and identify ways of preventing problems in the future.”

At a minimum, you should prepare for a visit by writing down a list of questions you have and things you want to remember to tell your provider. Be prepared to mention how you have been feeling since your last visit, and speak up about any changes you’ve noticed, new symptoms you have, or anything else the healthcare provider should know.

If your PCP is new to you or if there have been changes since your last visit, you should also bring a list of the medicines you take and information about your family history. If you are also seeing other healthcare providers, bring copies of relevant records and test results, plus contact information for these providers.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as: “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.”

It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of health outcomes are attributable to social determinants of health, which are generally divided into five categories:

• Economic stability: Poverty, employment, food security, housing stability
• Education: High school graduation, higher education, language and literacy, early childhood
• Social and community context: Social cohesion, civic participation, discrimination, incarceration
• Health and healthcare: Access to healthcare and primary care, health literacy
• Neighborhood and built environment: Access to healthy foods, quality of housing, crime and violence, environmental conditions

Another way of looking at social determinants of health is by dividing them into categories that correlate with the amount of influence they have on your health:

• 10% physical environment (air and water quality, housing, transit)
• 20% clinical care (access, quality)
• 30% health behaviors (diet, exercise, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use)
• 40% social and economic factors (education, employment, income, community safety, family and social support)

Doctors and public health researchers now understand more than ever the role these outside factors play in the health of not just the community, but the individuals within it.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones. Weakened bones are more likely to break. Osteoporosis affects both men and women, but postmenopausal women are most at risk. This is because after menopause, the body makes less estrogen, which increases bone loss.

In later years, both men and women need to take extra care of their bones because the body loses more bone than it makes. Both the quality and quantity of bone declines in older people. This is why prevention of osteoporosis, which includes exercise and a healthy diet, is important. So is screening for osteoporosis, and if screening finds your bones are thinning, following your doctor’s treatment and lifestyle recommendations.

You Can Prevent Osteoporosis

To help prevent osteoporosis and fractures, you need to exercise and nourish your bones throughout your life. The earlier you begin staying active and increasing your calcium intake, the more bone loss you can prevent.

Exercise is vital for your bone health at any age. It can prevent bone fractures and spine changes by slowing bone loss. Exercise will also strengthen the muscles that support and protect your bones. It can also be fun! A variety of exercises is best:

•  Resistance exercises. These build muscle strength and maintain bone mass. They also make you less prone to injury. Exercises include lifting small weights, doing push-ups and sit-ups, using elastic exercise bands, and using weight machines.
•  Weight-bearing activities. These help your whole body. They also help you maintain bone mass. Activities include walking, dancing, and housework.
•  Non-weight-bearing exercises. These help prevent back strain and pain. They do this by building the trunk and leg muscles. Exercises that help with flexibility can prevent falls. Examples include swimming, water exercise, and stretching.

Before you start a new exercise routine, talk with your healthcare provider to be sure these exercises are right for you.

To Continue Reading Click Here!

Pernessa C. Seele is the founder and CEO of the Balm in Gilead, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that strengthens the capacity of faith institutions in the United States and Africa to promote health education and disease management. Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People, Essence magazine selected her as one of the 35 Most Beautiful and Remarkable Women in the World, and Ebony magazine named her one of its Power 150.

“Stigma” is a simple two-syllable word, yet carries the weight of negative and often unfair beliefs that we hold about each other. Perhaps most tragically, stigmas lock people into stereotyped boxes and deny us all the right to be our authentic and whole selves. We all have the tendency to sit high and look low while proclaiming how progressive we’ve become. However, the reality is that we both perpetuate and experience the burden of stigma in our public and private lives every day.

Informed by decades of in-the-trenches experience, Dr. Pernessa Seele, a longtime public health activist who started one of the first AIDS education programs in the 1980s, has crafted a proven method to address stigma. Stand Up to Stigma looks at the impact of stigma on learning, job performance, economic growth, and healthcare with a major focus on its impact on our everyday, personal lives and well-being.

This powerful book confronts stereotype development, shows how to undo the processes and effects of stigma, and explains how we can radically change cultural thinking on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels to put an end to stigmatization once and for all. If we are honest and committed to exposing the problems, Dr. Seele helps each of us vividly see how we privately stigmatize people whom we see as different from ourselves, particularly when they come from other backgrounds and cultures than our very own.

Dr. Seele imagines a world that few people can. She envisions that by eliminating stigmas about people different from us, we can change representations in the media, get rid of laws and policies targeting stigmatized groups, and overcome inherited biases within public health, religious, education, and other institutions. Dr. Seele believes we must begin to stand up to stigma and set an example for future generations.

“Pernessa’s book can make a difference in your life. In a powerful way, it gets to the heart of a complex issue. Many people stigmatize others without realizing it, and Seele helps readers understand what they can do to change their attitudes and actions.”

—Jeff Pegues, Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent, CBS News, and author of Black and Blue

“We all dream of living in a world without stigma and bias, but a quick glance at the news proves that this is a dream deferred. Pernessa Seele pulls no punches in identifying the cost of stigma and steps to take away the power of stigma and bias.”

—Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, Chairman, Conference on National Black Churches, Inc.

“Dr. Pernessa Seele’s tireless efforts to remove disparities in health care—and wherever we need more understanding and acceptance—is nothing short of inspirational. I will gladly share this book with anyone who questions the toll that stigma takes on our human community—or the path we can take to escape it.”

—John Hope Bryant, Chairman, Operation HOPE

“In sharing cogent reflections based upon her pioneering experiences as a courageous health advocate, Pernessa Seele squarely identifies the societal toll taken by stigma and stereotyping—and delineates the steps we can take to reaffirm the dignity we each innately possess by virtue of our humanity.”

—Natalia Kanem, MD, Acting Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund

“Dr. Seele puts a human face on the consequences of stigma, shows the need to examine our biases, and gives me the uneasy personal reminder that as a public health official and researcher, I must drive outside my lane of numbers and statistics.”

—Willi McFarland, MD, PhD, MPH&TM, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, and Director, Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco Department of Public Health

“The Balm In Gilead founded by Dr. Pernessa Seele has saved lives in the United States, Africa and beyond. Through education, treatment and prevention, Pernessa has enabled tens of thousands to walk the earth with health, hope and wholeness. We are blessed to have Dr. Seele’s narrative of healthcare and wellness in a wounded world.”

—Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. International pastor, theologian, speaker, author,

and activist

To Purchase Her Book On Amazon Click Here!

Freewill Offering at: https//pawinc.org/givenow

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Are you registered for the 8th Annual Healthy Churches 2030 Conference happening Nov. 15–18? Don’t delay! Registration closes on Nov. 5th.

Groups of 20 people or more can register for $30 per person. So, gather your friends, colleagues, and congregation to register today for this 4-day global, virtual event that connects faith and public health. Individual registration is available. www.healthychurches2030.org #HC2030 #BlackHealthAgenda #TheBalmInGilead

Attention all called to serve God’s people: the 8th Annual Healthy Churches 2030 Conference is happening Nov. 15–18, 2021.

This one-of-a-kind virtual event bands together leading faith and public health experts to eliminate the burden of sickness amongst African Americans. Register groups of 20 or more for $30 per person. Register today!

www.healthychurches2030.org

#HC2030 #BlackHealthAgenda #theBalmInGilead

Voting rights suppression IS a public health crisis. So, join us and LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter, at the #HC2030 Conference. Together, we’ll address the current assault on the voting rights of African American people, recognize the Black vote’s power and explore ways to take action as a community. Visit www.healthychurches2030.org to grab your registration now! #HealthyChurches2030Conference #TheBalmInGilead

The 8th Annual Healthy Churches 2030 Conference is coming soon! Don’t miss your opportunity to connect faith and public health to create solutions for eliminating the burden of sickness and health disparities in the African American community. This virtual, global event held virtually, Nov. 15–18 is one you do not want to miss. Registration closes Nov. 5th. Visit our website to learn about individual & group pricing. www.healthychurches2030.org #HC2030 #TheBalmInGilead #BlackHealthAgenda

Too many suffer with trauma in silence. Gather practical tools about healing processes at the 8th Annual Healthy Churches 2030 Conference held virtually, Nov. 15–18, 2021. Learn more at www.healthychurches2030.org #HC2030 #BlackHealthAgenda #theBalmInGilead

Panelists Phyllisa Deroze, Ph.D., Cherise Shockley, and Kendall Simmons are dedicated to balancing practical and spiritual practices that help Black people manage and even prevent diabetes. Moderated by Michael Roberson, don’t miss this engaging discussion at the 8th Annual Healthy Churches 2030 Conference. Register today! www.healthychurches2030.org #HC2030 #BlackHealthAgenda #TheBalmInGilead #DiabetesAwareness

You do not want to miss #HC2030 Conference’s closing sermon featuring Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley. Dr. Wesley is a leading theologian in the 21st-century church and is regarded as one of our generation’s most prolific and prophetic voices of justice and grace as he’s unafraid to take on social and political issues. Hurry, register today for this 4-day virtual event, Nov. 15–18, 2021, that’s sure to equip you with the tools to impact your community’s health for the better! www.healthychurches2030.org #HealthyChurches2030 #BlackHealthAgenda #TheBalmInGilead