West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 1513-7368 13 6 2012 06 01 Interest in Health Promotion Among Korean American Seventh-day Adventists Attending a Religious Retreat 2923 2930 26601 EN Journal Article 1970 01 01 Background: Little is known about interest in faith-based health promotion programs among Asian Americanpopulations. Among the Christian denominations, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church is known to place astrong doctrinal emphasis on health. Objectives: To understand appropriate ways to develop and implement healthpromotion programs and to conduct research among Korean American SDAs. Methods: We collaborated with theNorth American Division of Korean SDA Churches which sponsors annual week-long religious retreats for theirchurch members. We developed and administered a 10-page questionnaire at their 2009 retreat in order to assesssocio-demographic and church characteristics, religiosity, perceived relationship between health and religion,and interest and preferences for church-based health promotion programs. Results: Overall, 223 participantscompleted our survey (123 in Korean and 100 in English). The sample consisted of regular churchgoers who wereinvolved in a variety of helping activities, and many holding leadership positions in their home churches. Thevast majority was interested in receiving health information at church (80%) in the form of seminars, cookingclasses and workshops (50-60%). Fewer respondents were interested in support groups (27%). Some interestsand preferences differed between English and Korean language groups. Conclusion: Korean American SDAchurch retreat participants from a large geographic area are very interested in receiving health informationand promoting health at their churches and can potentially serve as “agents of influence” in their respectivecommunities.

https://journal.waocp.org/article_26601_7b52acbc8c64c93b2c1b4c4fd2117008.pdf