Religion and Public Health

This program area focuses on the intersection of religion and public health fostering the incorporation of religious factors in epidemiology and public health research and practice. The project highlights how religious community participation has been found to be associated with a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes, and seeks to describe pathways by which religious associations arise - whether by social support, lifestyle and behavior, prayer and meditation, belief and hope, or self-control and self-regulation. The program seeks to advance methodological guidelines for religion and health research in order facilitate the use of a more rigorous methodology throughout the religion and health field. In addition, this research area focuses on the complex ways in which race, racial discrimination, socioeconomic status and religious involvement can affect physical and mental health and how coping resources and strategies ranging from social support and religiosity to psychological attributes and health behaviors can modify the effects of stress on health. (See prior publications).

Affiliated Faculty: Jennifer Allen, Jorge Chavarro, Alexandra Shields, Tyler VanderWeeleDavid Williams
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