The FaithHealth Model
What is FaithHealth?
CLICK for article by Gary Gunderson
“The FaithHealth model sees the whole as one thing. A jumble becomes a pattern and a map on which you can see public health, law enforcement and education, all three linked to healthcare facilities and then to all of the churches, synagogues and mosques on the same map. How much health care could the model generate? How much mercy, justice and compassion might flow into and through the neighborhoods the model makes visible?”
It takes all kinds of folks to do the work of FaithHealth, to help bring health to the most vulnerable people. Here are some of them.
These should make sense in any community
Community Heath Workers
Full-time staff who connect clients with primary care appointments and medication, complete insurance paperwork, deliver food and more.
Congregations
Volunteers extend compassionate care beyond the walls of the medical center and agencies. Combine caregiving and capacity building.
FaithHealth Connectors
Part-time, lightly funded. Already trusted in some community or network. Provide hands-on caregiving, such as delivering meals. Recruit and train volunteers.
Faith Community Nurses
How faith communities often function like an organic social immune system during times of crisis, particularly our current COVID-19 pandemic.
Visiting Clergy
Quick Response Teams
Visit overdose victims during the “recovery window” to check in, share resources and ask: Are you ready to enter a program?
And so should these new kinds of Chaplains
Embedded First Responder Chaplains
They answer the calls of the first responders. Deployed as integral, embedded members of emergency response teams
FaithHealth Chaplain Managers
Serve as traditional chaplains to those in the hospitals, but also help connect patients and family with support outside of the hospital walls.
Discover & align your assets. Each community has unique possibilities. Here’s some of what we found in ours:
CareNet Counselors
Licensed mental health professionals who provide education and support for clients and families through 37 centers across North Carolina.
Community Radio
How faith communities often function like an organic social immune system during times of crisis, particularly our current COVID-19 pandemic.
Center for Congregational Health
Healthy congregations are better equipped to serve their communities. CCH promotes health and thriving among faith communities.