AN EXPLORATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CLERGY'S RESPONSE TO THE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF ELDERS

摘要

K. Stansbury, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA African American clergy, albeit informally, are key figures in the provision of mental health services to elder congregants.Yet, few studies are available on African American clergy's mental health activities with elders.To address this gap in the literature, the current study examined African American clergy's pastoral care to mentally distressed older adults.A purposive sample of 1 8 African American clergy representing diverse ages, locales, and educational levels were recruited to participate in the study A model of pastoral care is presented to explain the complexity of the helping process from the viewpoint of the clergy.The process of providing pastoral interventions to assist mentally distressed elder congregants involved five core elements: 1 pastoral awareness; 2 pastoral screening; 3 pastoral counseling; 4 internal ministries; and 5 follow-up with elder congregants and/or family members.This study provides evidence that African American clergy are active in assisting mentally distressed elders.