Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry
The Underground Railroad Church (URC) in an effort to reduce sickness and increase wellness among Blacks has developed the Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry and our theme is “Health Care Begins With Me!”
The Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry (SRHM) is committed to ministering the message of health-reclaiming by addressing the 5 aspects of the ‘whole-person’ (spirit, mind, emotions, body, social). The word ‘health’ is derived from the Old English root meaning ‘whole’. An individual is considered healthy when these 5 aspects are working together in wellness.
Yes, the whole-person is one unit, each aspect affects the other both positively and negatively. The whole-person is expressed through ‘lifestyle’ that reflects an individual's beliefs, values, knowledge, attitudes, and habits.
Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry is a health promotion initiative that came into being to address and improve the poor health status of millions of Blacks in America. A recent study published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlighted the nation’s stark racial inequities in health and life expectancies, finding that the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white Americans over more than two decades.
The study cites that since so many Black people die young - with many years of life ahead of them their higher mortality rate from 1999 to 2020 resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life compared with the white population. Studies show that Blacks have lower health literacy rates and those who have lower levels of health literacy have poorer health outcomes; they suffer more from major chronic diseases, more susceptible to health misinformation, have a lower quality of life, and have greater premature death rates.
Indeed, today millions of Blacks in America are disabled and die prematurely from health conditions that are greatly impacted by ‘health unawareness’ and ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ behaviors. Indeed, these conditions could be prevented, reversed, or better managed with proficient knowledge ‘health literacy’, knowing the symptoms and risks associated with many health problems.
SRHM as an initiative arose from the need to effectively address health illiteracy, unhealthy lifestyles, and the socioeconomic determinants of health that contribute to poor health outcomes for Blacks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 60% of chronic diseases are related to unhealthy lifestyles and health illiteracy.
SRHM initial priority focus efforts will be communicating effective health promotion messages to increase health literacy. SRHM overall goal is to create sustainable community-based chronic disease prevention programming throughout Black communities to reduce racial health disparities.
The Underground Railroad Church (URC) in an effort to reduce sickness and increase wellness among Blacks has developed the Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry and our theme is “Health Care Begins With Me!”
The Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry (SRHM) is committed to ministering the message of health-reclaiming by addressing the 5 aspects of the ‘whole-person’ (spirit, mind, emotions, body, social). The word ‘health’ is derived from the Old English root meaning ‘whole’. An individual is considered healthy when these 5 aspects are working together in wellness.
Yes, the whole-person is one unit, each aspect affects the other both positively and negatively. The whole-person is expressed through ‘lifestyle’ that reflects an individual's beliefs, values, knowledge, attitudes, and habits.
Sankofa Reclamation Health Ministry is a health promotion initiative that came into being to address and improve the poor health status of millions of Blacks in America. A recent study published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlighted the nation’s stark racial inequities in health and life expectancies, finding that the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white Americans over more than two decades.
The study cites that since so many Black people die young - with many years of life ahead of them their higher mortality rate from 1999 to 2020 resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life compared with the white population. Studies show that Blacks have lower health literacy rates and those who have lower levels of health literacy have poorer health outcomes; they suffer more from major chronic diseases, more susceptible to health misinformation, have a lower quality of life, and have greater premature death rates.
Indeed, today millions of Blacks in America are disabled and die prematurely from health conditions that are greatly impacted by ‘health unawareness’ and ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ behaviors. Indeed, these conditions could be prevented, reversed, or better managed with proficient knowledge ‘health literacy’, knowing the symptoms and risks associated with many health problems.
SRHM as an initiative arose from the need to effectively address health illiteracy, unhealthy lifestyles, and the socioeconomic determinants of health that contribute to poor health outcomes for Blacks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 60% of chronic diseases are related to unhealthy lifestyles and health illiteracy.
SRHM initial priority focus efforts will be communicating effective health promotion messages to increase health literacy. SRHM overall goal is to create sustainable community-based chronic disease prevention programming throughout Black communities to reduce racial health disparities.