Tools and Best Practices for Faith-Engaged Public Health Action
Stuart C. Nelson, MA, President & CEO, Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
Klaus Krøyer Madsen, MPH, Public Health Strategist & Advisor, Klaus Madsen Health Solutions
Mojisola Delano, MS, MPH, FaithHealth Project Coordinator, Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
Matthew T. DuVall, DMin, Senior Director for Substance Use Disorders & Recovery Programs, Clinton Foundation
Brett McCarty, ThD, Associate Director, Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative, Duke Divinity School
Derek Yach, DrPH, Global Health Consultant & Former WHO Executive Director, Global Health Strategies
Faith communities remain among the most trusted, durable, and culturally rooted institutions in many societies, yet their capacity to engage meaningfully with contemporary public health challenges is uneven, strained, and often underdeveloped. At the same time, public health systems increasingly recognize that technical solutions alone are insufficient to address chronic disease, mental health, substance use, and the non-medical drivers of health.
This three-hour, practical workshop brings together leaders in global public health, faith-based health initiatives, addiction recovery, theology, and community health to explore what actually works at the intersection of faith and public health - and what does not. Rather than offering a generic overview of the field or a theoretical account of religion and health, the session centers on concrete tools, transferable frameworks, and hard-earned lessons from local, national, and global contexts.
Participants will engage case studies spanning diabetes prevention, substance use recovery, mental health, and health equity initiatives, with particular attention to trust-building, health literacy, leadership formation, and multi-sector collaboration. Through a mix of personal narrative, facilitated dialogue, and applied exercises, the workshop will invite participants to assess the capacities and limitations of faith communities today, while cultivating practical ways to move forward with honesty, imagination, and shared purpose.
This three-hour, practical workshop brings together leaders in global public health, faith-based health initiatives, addiction recovery, theology, and community health to explore what actually works at the intersection of faith and public health - and what does not. Rather than offering a generic overview of the field or a theoretical account of religion and health, the session centers on concrete tools, transferable frameworks, and hard-earned lessons from local, national, and global contexts.
Participants will engage case studies spanning diabetes prevention, substance use recovery, mental health, and health equity initiatives, with particular attention to trust-building, health literacy, leadership formation, and multi-sector collaboration. Through a mix of personal narrative, facilitated dialogue, and applied exercises, the workshop will invite participants to assess the capacities and limitations of faith communities today, while cultivating practical ways to move forward with honesty, imagination, and shared purpose.