My Faith Keeps Me Healthy: Conversations with Older Adult about Health

This proposal is part of a larger project which focuses on spirituality, physical health, and nutrition at a large suburban predominately African American Baptist church. In the fall of 2017, an announcement was shared with the members of the Senior Adult Ministry (SAM) about a Healthy Eating/Active Living (HEAL) workshop to be held at their church. Some members of SAM had participated in previous HEAL project activities. Participants of the proposed activity were 50 – 80 years of age and were all female. The focus group started with opening prayer, followed by a light healthy lunch provided by the research team. Afterwhich, the second author/facilitator initiated the discussion with the following prompt – “What works and what does not work in you eating healthy and exercising”. This led to an interactive , rich discussion with participants of their daily eating habits and physical activity.