Religion and Health Among African Americans: A Qualitative Examination

Keywords

religion, spirituality, African American, health, longevity

Abstract

Hummer, Rogers, Nam, and Ellison found a 13.7-year advantage in longevity for African Americans who attend worship services more than once a week compared with those who never attend. This article subsequently responds to the question, Why do highly religious African Americans live significantly longer? A purposive sample of highly religious, African American adults were interviewed using an in-depth, qualitative approach to examine the religion-health-longevity interface. Six themes relating to the research question are reported: active faith involvement and the aged, avoiding negative coping, evading violence, the absence of hope, social support, and the power of prayer. The six themes are discussed in detail, and directions for future research are recommended.

Original Publication Citation

Marks, L. D., *Nesteruk, O., *Swanson, M., Garrison, M. E. B., & *Davis, T. (2005). Religion and health among African Americans. Research on Aging, 27, 447-474.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2005-07-01

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7697

Publisher

Research on Aging

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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