Faith and Public Health

What’s the role of Faith based organisations in their communities?

January 2011

Faith and Public Health

Public Health is an interesting concept. To define it

is to simply look around in your local community. How

many parks your community has, how many takeaways

and what children are getting in their school dinners

all plays a part in Public Health.

What is public health? [1]

The Faculty of Public Health defines public health as: The science and art of promoting and protecting health and wellbeing, preventing ill health and prolonging life through the organised efforts of society.

There are three domains of public health: health improvement (including people’s lifestyles as well as inequalities in health and the wider social influences of health), health protection (including infectious diseases, environmental hazards and emergency preparedness) and health services (including service planning, efficiency, audit and evaluation).

This includes the way that roads and transport links are laid out but more importantly, how communities deal with health issues. This applies directly to Faith. Muslim Men have the worst health of any faith group in the UK[2]. Although this is stated, it’s sometimes hard to quantify faith and health research. So let’s look at the health of different ethnic groups.

Facts about health and ethnicity

Overall Health[3]

  • Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black-Caribbean people report the poorest health
  • Indian, East African and Black African people report same health as White British
  • Chinese people report better health

Access to Healthcare:[4]

  • Rates of dissatisfaction in healthcare have been higher among some BME groups than in White British

Cardio-Vascular Disease[5]

  • BME groups tend to have higher rates of cardio-vascular disease than White British people
  • Men born in South Asia are 50% more likely to have a heart attack (Bangladeshi highest, then Pakistanis, then Indians, and other South Asians)
  • Men born in the Caribbean are 50% more likely to die of stroke than the general population, but much lower mortality to coronary heart disease
  • South Asians have been found to have lower access to care for coronary heart disease

Mental Health[6]

  • Studies show up to 7 times higher rates of new diagnosis of psychosis among Black Caribbean than among White British
  • Differences in treatment: e.g. Black Caribbean and African people more likely to enter psychiatric care through the criminal justice system than through contact with the health services
  • BME groups may feel excluded because of discrimination (e.g. attitudes of staff) or through indirect discrimination e.g. being unable to access services because of language barriers
  • Well-documented cultural differences in the way in which different cultures may develop different responses for coping with psychological stressors

Other influential factors[7]

  • People from BME groups more likely than the white majority to be practising their religious faith
  • Higher proportion of African Caribbean people affirmed a religious belief than that of the white population/other BME groups
  • South Asian women use prayer as a major coping strategy for depression
  • Research has shown that religious involvement is associated with positive mental health outcomes

Setting the Scene

Public Health is now an issue on the agenda

because of a report done in 2010 by Michael

Marmot entitled ‘Fair Society: Healthy Lives’.

The Marmot Review highlighted that the poor will die seven years sooner than the rich and also they can expect to become disabled 17 years earlier. Clearly, the communities most in need are not getting help, and therefore are not able to access the care that the wealthy get.

The Department of Health have followed on from the Marmot Review by writing a paper entitled ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England’. This is the coalition government’s attempt to empower local communities, enable professional freedoms and unleash new ideas based on the evidence of what works, while ensuring that the country remains resilient to and militates against current and future health threats.

The White Paper states that this is a ‘radical shift in the way we tackle public health challenges. We have to be bold because so many of the lifestyle-driven health problems we see today are already at alarming levels.’

‘Britain is now the most obese nation in Europe. We have among the worst rates of sexually transmitted infections recorded a relatively large population of problem drug users and rising levels of harm from alcohol. Smoking alone claims over 80,000 lives every year. Experts estimate that tackling poor mental health could reduce our overall disease burden by nearly a quarter. Health inequalities between rich and poor have been getting progressively worse. We still live in a country where the wealthy can expect to live longer than the poor.’

Due to the difference in public health challenges from one community to the next, the Department of Health are recognising that changes can’t be made in Whitehall and through ‘nannying’. There needs to be a new approach to empower individuals to make healthier choices and give communities the tools to address their own particular needs.

Social Determinants of Health

The paper concentrates on the ‘social determinants of health’. The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes the social determinants of health as: ‘The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age’. It goes on to state that these conditions or circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels. These are themselves influenced by policy choices. It makes clear the link between the social determinants of health and health inequalities, defined as ‘the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries’.

Who’s going to do something about it?

It’s easy to look at a list of health issues

and problems and believe that someone

somewhere should do something about it;

the Government, the NHS or the private sector.

At FaithAction however, we believe that local

communities play a vital role in providing health and social care support to different faiths and ethnicities as well as all those organisations listed above.

FaithAction has been working with Faith groups since 2006, working to empower organisations to make changes in their communities as well as providing a vital voice to central and local Government on the role of Faith and how that drives organisations to work and provide services to those most in need. Often faith based organisations will be able to access for information and give aid to those who are not registered to a GP, those who do not have anyone and those who are in poverty.

What should we do?

Faith based organisations are often the cornerstone of communities and have a long history of activity in that community.

Faith groups are already providing vital services to communities, however with a few adaptions; we can ensure that everyone is getting the health care that they need. These are not ideas that can instantly save the lives of many people; these are small things that organisations can do to start the awareness of health.

  • Ask a question to your clients or beneficiaries

If we asked people if they had a GP, we might be able to find those who haven’t registered and find out why. A number of people do not register with GP’s because they do not know how to, they have a problem with language, or they do not have a current address or do not want to give it out. Simply asking the question if people have a GP and aiding that person to get signed on to a GP can help that person receive the medical support that they need – either now or further down the line.

  • Know your area

Do you know a pharmacy that is open late? Do you know where the nearest walk in centre is? Do you know the number to see an out of hours GP? This information can easily be collated and put up on the wall of your centre or classroom. This information might help ease the strain on A&E resources and also encourage people to see Doctors and Nurses as soon as they have a problem instead of presenting late.

  • Apple or Mars Bar

Do you have a drinks machine, or a chocolate machine in your office? What are the chances that your clients are leaving your office and going to a shop to buy a chocolate bar? Why not start selling fruit in your office or having a fruit box delivered.

  • Have you got a C.I.T?

A C.I.T is not an infection of some description… this is a concept that FaithAction has started to pilot amongst its members. A C.I.T. is a Community Information Tool, used to deliver information to your community in an easy way. This is a pack of information and NHS leaflets that individuals can go through with a mentor or a member of staff from the faith based organisation.

The idea emerged when a member group of FaithAction realised that their local A&E was having a high percentage of under 1’s seen as mothers or fathers did not know where to take their child when they were ill. They collated information on their local area – pharmacists that were open late, walk in centres and how to register with a GP. They also ordered NHS leaflets about child health off the internet for free. They put all this information in a pack and gave these out to mothers taking part in their groups. They went through the information with them to ensure that they understood and knew how to use the pack. This idea is a simple way to make communities aware of information and services available to them.

Where now?

With simple interventions, public health could start to look differently in our local communities. If you have thoughts or ideas how the Department of Health can change Public Health centrally, get in touch with the FaithAction National Office at

Give your faith a voice

FaithAction is currently drafting a response to the Public Health White Paper on behalf of our members. If you are interested in participating in this response, send your thoughts to .

Further information

For further information on the Public Health White Paper, please go to:

For further information on FaithAction and how it can assist your organisation, please go to or call 0845 094 6350

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