Seniors' Mental Health and Pastoral Practices in African American Churches: An Exploratory Study in a Southern City

Some evidence suggests that religiosity contributes to the subjective health of senior citizens, especially in the African American population. When facing potentially stressful problems, many African American seniors turn to the church and clergy for help. Consequently, we explore how their clergy...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Blasi, Anthony J. (Author) ; Husaini, Baqar A. (Author) ; Drumwright, Darrell A. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publications 1998
In: Review of religious research
Year: 1998, Volume: 40, Issue: 2, Pages: 168-177
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
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Summary:Some evidence suggests that religiosity contributes to the subjective health of senior citizens, especially in the African American population. When facing potentially stressful problems, many African American seniors turn to the church and clergy for help. Consequently, we explore how their clergy respond to seniors' psychological problems, whether they seek advice from professionals, and what they typically do in dealing with a distressed senior. Data from a representative sample of pastors of African American congregations indicate that one-half of the clergy referred distressed seniors to mental health professionals, while among the remaining pastors about 25% provided counseling and prayers and another 25% felt that problems were not serious enough to require either counseling or professional referral. A discussion of these findings is provided.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3512300