Two members of the Core group, Teresa Cutts and Gary Gunderson, recently featured in an article on the Sojourners website detailing the impact of the Congregational Health Network, to which the Leading Causes of Life agenda is an affiliate:
'Today, the Congregational Health Network (CHN) has become a model for how hospitals and faith communities can work together. More than 500 congregations, including Baptist, Methodist, and Church of God in Christ, have signed up to be part of CHN, representing more than 15,000 patients. Eleven hospital employees, known as navigators, work with congregational volunteers, known as liaisons, to help congregation members make their way through the health-care system. The network offers weekly classes ranging from “Caring for the Dying” to “Mental Health First Aid.” More than 2,000 people have taken at least one class.'
Amongst other things, the article highlights the importance of multifaceted approaches as part of the healing process. Cutts, in the article, details how foundational trust and friendship are to the functioning of the program. Combined with medical attention, the Network provides social connections in communities that would have otherwise been out of reach from medical care. And the nature of relationships between medical staff, clergy and the community has increased the number of patients under care - halving the number of network deaths between 2008 - 2011.
Certainly, the sustenance of life is at work here.
'Today, the Congregational Health Network (CHN) has become a model for how hospitals and faith communities can work together. More than 500 congregations, including Baptist, Methodist, and Church of God in Christ, have signed up to be part of CHN, representing more than 15,000 patients. Eleven hospital employees, known as navigators, work with congregational volunteers, known as liaisons, to help congregation members make their way through the health-care system. The network offers weekly classes ranging from “Caring for the Dying” to “Mental Health First Aid.” More than 2,000 people have taken at least one class.'
Amongst other things, the article highlights the importance of multifaceted approaches as part of the healing process. Cutts, in the article, details how foundational trust and friendship are to the functioning of the program. Combined with medical attention, the Network provides social connections in communities that would have otherwise been out of reach from medical care. And the nature of relationships between medical staff, clergy and the community has increased the number of patients under care - halving the number of network deaths between 2008 - 2011.
Certainly, the sustenance of life is at work here.
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