Pastors’ perceptions of faith-based cancer prevention/early detection programs in Virginia: a mixed methods study

Churches are promising partners for the delivery of cancer prevention and early detection interventions; few studies have examined pastors' views of offering these programs. This mixed methods study occurred in two phases: (i) pastors (n = 213) were surveyed to assess whether their church offered nine different cancer prevention/early detection programs and rated their perceived importance and feasibility of offering programs; (ii) a subsample of pastors (n = 17) participated in interviews. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research guided the development of the survey and the interview guide, and convergent parallel analysis was used to triangulate results. Of the nine programs, physical activity and healthy eating programs were most offered (47% and 40%, respectively). Perceived importance was low for most programs (mean = 2.38 out of 4), but perceived feasibility was moderately high (mean = 3.11 out of 4). The interviews identified prominent subthemes such as internal support, church characteristics, and pastor health interest that further described pastors' perceived importance of programs and factors that impeded program offerings. Perceived feasibility subthemes revealed that while pastors perceived programs to be feasible, many lacked the resources to deliver programs. Public health partnerships with churches can help mitigate resource limitations and improve sustainability of cancer screening and early detection programs.