Shared Use to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Rural South Carolina United Methodist Churches: Opportunities and Pastor Beliefs

Abstract

Access to facilities that could promote physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) is limited in rural areas. Shared use agreements with churches may be a promising strategy for enhancing rural community access to facilities. The goals of this qualitative study were to (a) examine rural pastors’ views on the role of faith-based organizations in improving PA and HE in rural communities; (b) describe the availability of church facilities that could be used for PA and HE; (c) understand pastors’ opinions on shared use of church facilities for community health promotion. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to recruit pastors in rural South Carolina. Thirteen United Methodist Church (UMC) pastors (46% female; 54% predominantly African American congregations) participated in phone interviews. Interviews were transcribed and coded using grounded theory and analyzed with NVIVO. Most pastors reported that their churches had a kitchen (88%), classrooms (82%), and open field space (71%). Nine churches (53%) said they had shared use agreements in place although only two agreements (12%) were related to PA promotion and none related to HE activities. Most pastors did not have concerns about shared use, and many believed that sharing the church’s space with the community was an important aspect of outreach. These results demonstrate that rural churches have facilities to support shared use agreements for PA and HE activities and that pastors are open to sharing church space. Future studies should engage rural churches in establishing shared use agreements for health promotion.