FAQS

What is an Evidence Based Program?

That’s a great question! In our EPICC project, we want churches to have the best chance for success in improving the health of the people in each church! We have been looking for evidence-based health promotion programs, because if the programs are “evidence based” it means there is research that has shown these programs can help people make positive health changes. “Evidence based” just doesn’t mean there is research supporting the program, it also means that the program has value to the people who are doing the program. So, to answer the question in one sentence: Evidence based means there is research that has shown the program can improve health in some way and that it has value to the people who are doing it – in this case, some group(s) in your church!

Why would my church want to do an evidence-based program?

That’s also a great question! Most of us know we could take better care of ourselves and churches are great places to support people to improve their lives – spiritually and physically. Together, as a church, we can learn to take better care of our “temple” – our body. When we have health programs that we do at church or with people from our church (or even a group of churches), we are learning to better care for our bodies and being good role models to others around us. We are learning and working together to improve our health so we can do the work of the church better too!

How does our church choose an EPICC Coordinator and Team to lead our church in this project?

Your church EPICC Coordinator has an important role in this project! This EPICC Coordinator will be the leader of the program and will be responsible to make sure the Covenant Consent form (or MOU) gets signed. (Since the EPICC research team will be meeting with your church EPICC Team after the survey is completed to get feedback on how it went, there is a consent form that the EPICC Coordinator will sign saying that your church agrees, or consents, to participating in the EPICC project.) Each EPICC Coordinator will also be the leader for finding two to four more EPICC Team members and completing the EPICC survey (as a team project), so your church can get the $400.00 for being part of the EPICC project!

The EPICC Coordinator for your church needs to be someone who can get people involved in a project at your church! This Coordinator needs to be able to talk with people at your church and find two to four more people (besides the Coordinator) who will become the EPICC Team. The Coordinator needs to be able to work with the pastor and/or the health ministries team (and maybe already be a part of the health ministries team) as well as get people thinking about how your church can become a healthier place! The Coordinator will lead the process of picking an evidence based program from the list provided and will lead the EPICC Team when looking at the evidence based program descriptions so the Team can choose the best program for your church. The evidence based program choice for your church is up to your church and the Team!

How would we pick the best program for our church?

The EPICC core team has been working to find evidence-based health programs that can be done in a church with little or no cost, and that do not require a special leader or health care provider, like a nurse or doctor. You will see the programs we have found from national health organization websites. Most of these programs are focused on eating more fruits and vegetables and/or increasing physical activity. We all eat and we all move (just some more than others…). 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 church will be given information on evidence based programs with descriptions and websites for more information. The EPICC Team and the Coordinator will be the leaders for choosing a program they think will be helpful to improve the health of their church in some way.

How do we decide what health issues are important to the people in our church?

Each church will pick a team of two to four people plus the EPICC Coordinator to lead the health program decisions and get people interested and excited to be a part of it! This team will work with the pastor and the people of the church to pick the program that best fits that church’s needs and interests at this time. The team might do a survey and ask people in the church what they think are the biggest health problems of church members. The team might think about things they have read about or talked about with other church members that seem to be behaviors that could change to improve health. Or they may know people in the church who have died or been recently diagnosed with a disease and people of the church are interested in that topic. There are lots of ways a church may decide on a health issue! The church team could pick a health program from the list with a focus on the health topic that kept coming up during any of these methods!

Or the team (and maybe the pastor) could look at the programs and the brief description and decide a certain program sounds interesting and something that the church members would be interested in doing. (Remembering that the team will be talking it up and working to get people interested in doing the program – or at least thinking about doing the program!). Each program has a description, 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. (Some programs will have the church team decide on the number of sessions and the overall time frame – it depends on what the church team decides to do.)

Here’s the bottom line to pick a health program:

1. Decide on the two to four member team plus the Coordinator to head up the program and planning in your church.
2. Include your pastor throughout the stages of doing the program.
3. Identify health concerns of your specific church – there are a lot of ways to do this!
4. 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.
5. 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!

What might happen in our church if we do a health promotion program?

Think about it! What might happen in our church if even one person started making healthier choices? What might happen in the family of that one person? What might happen if people in our church were more aware of how behavior choices have positive and negative health results? How might feeling better in our bodies improve our ability to be the people we want to be? How might we be good examples to our families and neighbors by taking better care of our bodies?

Let this process of thinking about health, picking a program and planning on how to do the program in your church be fun and a way to build teams to help the people in your church! 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 ……. If you have questions or need more help!