Family & Community Health

Attention manuscript submitters! When you submit your manuscript on Editorial Manager, please submit directly to the issue you wish to have consider your manuscript. Look at the list of upcoming issues on the website then choose the specific issue editor at the appropriate time in the electronic submission process.

Welcome to Family & Community Health’s website.  I think you will find this electronic journal platform  easy to use to help you find journal content, collaborate and share innovative health care ideas in family and community health.  This platform introduces new features that are designed to enrich readability and usability of the many excellent articles.  Some of the features that I think you will enjoy using include:

• Editor’s Picks showcase selected articles included in the journal over the past year.
• Up-coming issue themes and contact information for issue editors are in the section for authors
• A preview of the next issue so you can see what to watch for
• New options for delivering articles that include an enhanced HTML format for easier reading.
• New ways to customize the site, including saved searches, personal article collections, e-mail and RSS alerts, and more.

With the many changes that are occurring in  health care keeping up with how they will effect the health of the public is vital.  Our upcoming themes provide ideas of how to deal more effectively with high risk populations, boomers, as well as how to promote health in a variety of community-based and evidence based approaches. A special supplement accompanied issue 34.1 that describes several interesting programs that are funded through the CDCs REACH US program. Be sure to read this supplement and the issue that describes many contemporary programs in family and community health.

To use these features, all you need to do is register.  Click on the “Register” button located at the top right corner of the website. Then enter your subscriber account number that is located on your journal label just above your name. Now you will have full, unrestricted access to all the site’s easy-to-use features. If you have already registered, then all you have to do is log in as your have always done to begin taking advantage of all the new features.

Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN
Editor

Faith-Based Initiatives to Promote Health

Call for Papers
Social scientists and theologians have noted that churches and other faith-based organizations can have a considerable impact on society and its members. Over the past decade, government-sponsored faith-based initiatives have raised the profile of faith-based organizations as those that can provide services to disadvantaged individuals and communities. During this time, an increasing number of health scientists and public health practitioners have begun to work with faith-based institutions in health promotion and disease prevention efforts designed to improve the health of “hard to reach” or “at-risk” populations. The emergence of these efforts has sparked interests in examining the relationship between faith and health. “Faith” like “health” is a concept with multiple descriptions and applications, making it difficult to specify elements of successful collaboration between scientific and spiritual institutions.

This thematic issue will build on the foundation laid in Volume 32, Issue 4 which highlighted the diversity of faith-based programs and their potential impact for individuals and their communities.  We invite investigators to contribute original research as well as review articles that will further broaden the understanding of the relationship between faith and health. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Papers that discuss or refine existing theoretical models undergirding current faith-based research
• Papers that highlight seemingly subtle distinctions (i.e., faith-based orientation vs. church-based orientation) that can lead to considerable differences in approaches and outcomes
• Descriptions of epidemiological studies examining associations between faith and health
• Descriptions of intervention studies in faith settings and/or that incorporate faith-based elements

We especially welcome manuscripts that have leaders of faith-based organizations (e. g., pastors) as contributing authors.

About the Editors
Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MDiv is a sociologist whose research explores the intersection of race, gender, and behavior as they relate to the initiation and progression of chronic disease among African American males. He has published a number of peer-reviewed articles about prominent health issues in the African American community including obesity, hypertension, kidney disease, infant mortality, violence, alcohol use, and substance abuse. Dr. Bruce is also a seminary-trained, ordained Baptist Minister who has recently joined Gramercy Research Group as Director of Research and Operations where he is charged with contributing to the firm’s faith-based scientific enterprise as well as developing innovative ways to: strengthen coalitions between faith and research communities; translate research findings to clergy and congregations; and develop principles for conducting faith-based research in African-American communities.

Melicia C. Whitt-Glover, PhD, FACSM, President & CEO of Gramercy Research Group, is an epidemiologist and exercise scientist whose seeks to understand methods to increase adoption and maintenance of health-related behaviors, primarily physical activity and nutrition, among at-risk populations. Her work is based on principals of community-based participatory research and is primarily set in faith-based institutions and other community-based organizations (e.g., schools, worksites). Dr. Whitt-Glover is currently conducting one of the largest faith-based research studies in the country focused on promoting physical activity among African American churches. Dr. Whitt-Glover’s publications have focused on physical assessment; physical activity patterns among racial and ethnic minority groups; and development, implementation, and evaluation of behavioral interventions focused on physical activity and nutrition.

Submissions
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://journals.lww.com/familyandcommunityhealth/Pages/informationforauthors.aspx. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal’s system at http://www.editorialmanager.com/fch/ no later than October 1, 2012.

36.2 PROGRAMS THAT PREVENT OR INTERVENE IN CHRONIC ILLNESS
Due to Issue Editor: 8/2/2012
Bettina Beech, DrPH, MPH
Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Piedmont Plaza II, Suite #282
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157
Phone:  336/716-6511
bbeech@wfubmc.edu 

36.3 FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE HEALTH         
Due to Issue Editor: 10/1/2012
Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MDiv
Director of Research and Operations
Gramercy Research Group
500 West 4th Street, Suite 203
Winston-Salem NC 27101 
mbruce@gramercyresearch.com and
Melicia C. Whitt-Glover, PhD, FACSM
President & CEO, Gramercy Research Group
Address as above
mwhittglover@gramercyresearch.com

36.4 OBESITY, DIABETES, AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
Due to Issue Editor: 11/15/2012
Ronny Bell, PhD, MS
Division of Public Health Sciences and Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157
Phone:  336/716-9736; Fax: 336/716-5425
rbell@wakehealth.edu

37.1 FAMILY INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT AND CONTROL OBESITY
Due to Issue Editor: 4/1/2013
Joel E. Williams, MPH, PhD, ATC
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
College of Health, Education and Human Development
Clemson University
P.O. Box 340745
Clemson, SC 29634-0745
Phone:  864/656-1017; Fax: 864/656-6227
JOEL2@CLEMSON.EDU

37.2 TRANSLATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS
Due to Issue Editor: August 2, 2013
Bettina Beech, DrPH, MPH
Professor, Department of Social Sciences and
Health Policy
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Piedmont Plaza II, Suite # 282
Phone: 336/716-6511
bbeech@wfubmc.edu

37.3 SHAPING FAMILY & COMMUNITY HEALTH: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Due to Issue Editors: October 1, 2013
Arlene Keeling, PhD, RN, FAAN Professor and
Mary Gibson, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor
School of Nursing, University of Virginia
225 Jeanette Lancaster Way
Charlottesville VA 22903
Phone: 434-924-5906 (Keeling)
Awk2z@virginia.edu
Phone: 434-924-0130 (Gibson)
Meg2e@virginia.edu

Take a moment and look at these articles from issues 34.4, 35.1 and 35.2 of FCH. They talk about public health issues that may not be familiar to you. Each article offers new and useful information.

In 34.4 two articles provide useful information about topics of interest: youth drug use and youth coping when they are displaced during a civil war. See: Employing a youth-led adult-guided framework: Why drive high?" social marketing campaign  and Starting over from scratch: Social support and youth coping with internal displacement.

In 35.1 See A unique model of the community health worker: The MGH Chelsea community health improvement team.

In 35.2 take a look at Changing the face of nursing: Reducing ethnic and rasial disparities in health.