NHS ‘should work more closely with faith groups’

OBESITY, alcoholism, diabetes and smoking could be tackled more effectively if public-health bodies worked more closely with faith-based organisations, according to a report out this week.

FaithAction, a network of faith-based and community organisations, says that public-health bodies need to recognise the potential in collaborating with faith groups, many of which have tried-and-trusted relationships with communities that are difficult to reach. It says that faith groups can also help in the preparation of public-health messages to avoid pitfalls and misunderstandings.

For their part, faith organisations need to be proactive in developing links with health-care providers, and should recognise that they have built up expertise that can and should be shared.

In his foreword to the report, Professor Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing for Public Health England, says working with people of faith is an important part of his organisation’s agenda.

“The message of the report is that exploring faith communities as a setting for public health action could be an important means of achieving better health,” said Professor Fenton.

Among the health issues linked with faith communities, according to the report, are diabetes, which is six times more common in people of South Asian descent; hypertension, which has a higher prevalence in Indian men than in other Asians; and excessive drinking, which is more common among Irish people (who are overwhelmingly Catholic) than in other ethnic groups.

The report laments the lack of an evidence base for its basic premise, but says it hopes ways will be found to measure the difference that faith communities can and are making towards getting public-health messages across.