How Can Partnering with a Church Improve Health Outcomes more than the Existing Health Infrastructure?

The local church can improve the provision of healthcare in developing countries by building on its proximity to the community and the established trust it possesses.

Trust, Experimentation, and Learning from Others

Imagine that someone came to your work or home and told you about this amazing drug that would inoculate from the common cold (or something similar). How much would you be willing to pay for that drug? Would you take it at all? You don’t really know this person, they showed up claiming to be an expert, do you trust them? Suppose that you do trust them enough to believe that this drug at the very least will not do any harm to you. I would imagine that many of us would be willing to pay $10 for a shot at preventing the common cold. But as the price rises, the demand would fall significantly, why? For some of us, it could be that not getting the cold is not worth spending $500. But there is also uncertainty as to whether or not this product will work. Is it worth spending $100 for a possible vaccine for the cold?

This is the situation that people in developing countries find themselves in. They have been inundated with NGOs making outlandish promises about illnesses that they deal with every day. Why should they trust these outsiders, especially when the medicines they are peddling represent a significant cost to them. Several studies have tried to estimate the demand for various preventative medicines. These studies have found that, for the most part, the demand for preventative medicines falls steeply as the price rises (in some cases the demand is less than 100% even when the price is zero).

This is where the church comes in. If we partner with existing churches who have established credibility it may increase the willingness of people to try new health products (studies have shown that religious leaders are universally more trusted than government officials). Once these projects have been used (successfully) it has been shown that people are willing to purchase the product again even if they have to do so at full price. Other studies have shown that there are large amounts of social learning with new technologies in developing countries. Therefore the gains to using the health products spread outside of the membership (those most likely to trust the church).

Proximity

The local church’s proximity to the community can help solve two issues that often plague medical care in developing countries: convenience and absenteeism.

Recently, there has been a concerted effort in developing countries to increase rates of immunization among children. The main problem that health workers have come across is that, while immunization camps have been successful in delivering the first in a series of vaccinations to a large number of children, most do not complete the series. By in large, researchers have found that incomplete vaccinations are associated with the inconvenience of taking your child to a medical center or hospital (which are often located in excess of ten miles away from where the child resides) to receive or finish the vaccination process. Because the church is a location that at least the parishioners visit on a regular basis, the inconvenience of getting your child vaccinated is alleviated. 

Absenteeism is also a large issue when it comes to providing medical care in developing countries. Often the health care practitioners simply do not show up to work. This is problematic on two fronts. First, when the clinic workers do not show up no medical care can be given. Second, because visiting clinics can often represent a significant cost to an individual in terms of travel time, the uncertainty in regards to someone actually being at the clinic to treat them may be enough to discourage them from seeking medical care. Under the traditional model it is difficult to correct this because those responsible for oversight are often several hours away by car. This problem is easily preventable as those responsible for oversight (the church) will be in direct proximity to the clinic.