What is the Congregational Health Index or CHI?
The Congregational Health Index or CHI is an assessment tool and planning guide that enables faith communities to identify strengths and areas for improvement in their food and physical activity environments. (Haga un clic aquí, para el Índice de la Salud de Su Congregación; ahora es una copia borrador.) The CHI helps congregations look at their building and grounds use, policies, and traditions or practices to develop an action plan for improving congregants' health. The CHI process brings congregational leaders, clergy and members together for conversations on healthy eating and getting active and how to make sure healthy choices are available to everyone on-site as well as to those who attend events or use the congregation's programs or services.

What have congregations decided to do in their action plans to improve their health?
Some examples, from the first congregations to use the CHI have included:

• Creating guidelines for foods served at fellowship time, meetings and events
• Making sure water is available at every gathering instead of sugary drinks
• Putting up displays or labels with nutrition information about foods being served at the congregation
• Putting in a bike rack so more people will bike to worship services or events
• Building raised beds to be able to grow fresh vegetables in the congregation's paved parking lot
• Removing pavement at the church's private school to put in a garden, and creating an educational program for students on gardening and healthy eating
• Making a commitment to include physical activity as a regular part of children's religious education or during social hour
• Creating healthy celebrations, fundraisers and social justice projects, such as "walkathons." (Schools have implemented, and written how-to guides for, similar projects, so these particular links are for school-based activities, though they would work well for faith communities too.)

Share your action plan ideas, policies, and how-tos! Send them to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

How much does it cost to use the CHI?
You can get the CHI questions and guide for FREE on this website. You can print out the CHI or do your work online using a fillable pdf form. The only cost would be for photo copying or printing. The CHI is also available as a printed copy (in limited numbers) for $10 per document (including postage and handling). To request a print copy, please mail payment made out to Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon - IFFP, along with your address to: EMO, Congregational Wellness Project, 0245 SW Bancroft Street, Suite B, Portland, OR 97239.

Will my congregation have to spend money to implement our CHI action plan?
The CHI is designed to find easy, inexpensive ways to improve your congregation's health. A lot of action items will not cost anything, or will cost very little. A policy to serve water at every gathering, for example, might involve buying a few pitchers and glasses, or maybe you have some already. Anyone involved in meetings, classes or events can be told about, or given a copy of, the water policy. Policies are free, yet they are a great way to make a promise as a group to change your environment – and to help you stick with it even if your Wellness Team is no longer active. Making nutrition labels costs very little too.

For bigger items, like a bike rack, raised bed or full garden, you can use your CHI results and action plan to help obtain money or donated resources or time from community organizations, businesses, or state and local government. Check with your denomination or national faith/spiritual organization too; most have grant programs for building improvements, health ministry, or other such projects.

Can one person complete the CHI for my congregation?
No, the CHI is meant to be completed by a Wellness Team, while also involving your faith community's clergy or spiritual leader, lay leaders, parents, youth, and other members. The conversations you have while completing the CHI will help build community, and the more people you involve, the more ideas you will come across for healthy changes. These conversations are often fun and interesting, and they can also be a spiritual practice for your congregation – a way to talk about your values and how faith and health are connected. Plus, you will need support from leaders and members to be able to make changes to your environment.

What Challenges are faith communities likely to face when doing the CHI?
Sometimes people will resist changes, or feel uncomfortable even talking about changes, such as what food is being served at gatherings or adapting fundraisers or annual events so they are healthier. Eating and physical activity are personal, and so is weight and health status. Try to focus on health versus weight, and your congregation's environment as a whole instead of individual behavior. And create a safe, supportive atmosphere for these discussions.

You can begin meetings by asking everyone to be respectful and to think about how healthy choices are a reflection of your religious values. Also, acknowledge that change is hard, especially if there are beloved traditions you are considering adapting. It is probably best to take baby steps and work on issues you know most people will support. Remember, you can decide that some traditions will not be touched at all, such as the yearly picnic featuring fried chicken, fish fry dinners during holidays, potlucks after fasting, or a baking contest. Or, you can leave most of the event as-is, but be sure to have a few healthier options available too.

Another common challenge is finding volunteers to be part of your Wellness Team. Energy and enthusiasm will attract team members, especially if your Wellness Team Coordinator and congregational leaders highlight how fun and rewarding the work can be, and how it connects to your religious values and can help you live out your faith. Talk about why the work is important and how Team members will have a chance to get to know each other well and to socialize. If you create a large Team, you can also divide up the work so no one person feels like it is too big of a commitment.

See Tips for Success with the CHI for more suggestions.

How long will it take my congregation to finish the CHI?
Most congregations finish the Food in Your Congregation questions and score cards in about an hour – sometimes faster, or sometimes a bit longer, if the conversation is lively and you decide to continue talking. Physical Activity in Your Congregation can be completed in about half that time. The planning questions (to help you prioritize and choose action items) and the Health Improvement Plan (to create a step by step way to meet each goal), will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half each to complete. Again, you decide how much time you want to invest and do what works for your Wellness Team and congregation.

The CHI is meant to be flexible. If there are some questions that do not fit your congregation's circumstances, you can change them so they fit better, or you can cross them out (but be sure to subtract 3 points from your total in that section, for each question that you decide to delete). Keep in mind that nutritional information and recommended amounts of physical activity should stay the same, as the CHI was created with dietitians and others with special knowledge about food and physical activity. Feel free to make simple changes to the CHI, as needed, but if you make more extensive changes, it can no longer be called the CHI. Instead, please note that it is a document "based on the Congregational Health Index created by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and Community Health Partnership: Oregon's Public Health Institute." If you do adapt the tool, please contact the authors so we can track how it is being used: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Has the CHI been tested with congregations?
Yes, the CHI was field tested with eight congregations on the west coast, in both rural and urban areas. The pilot congregations were from six different faith traditions/denominations, a variety of cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and with different income levels. Some faith communities were made up of mainly one culture or ethnic group and others were multi-cultural. The field test focused on user-friendliness, content, wording, and relevance to diverse communities. Pilot congregations gave ongoing feedback about the process and each question and section of the CHI. Their feedback was included in the version of the CHI currently on this website, dated August 2010. Public health advisors and faith advisors (from religions not represented in the pilot test), also reviewed the CHI for accuracy, in addition to the factors mentioned above.

As more communities use the CHI, the authors plan to update it, or to possibly create culturally-specific versions, if needed. Please send us your feedback and specific ideas for improving the CHI: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .