The community is invited to participate in a weight-loss research project through a faith-based initiative and medical program targeting participants in the Delta.
The WORD (Wholeness, Oneness, Righteousness, Deliverance) is an 18-month faith-based weight-loss program sponsored by the Faith Task Force and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Funding is by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a program with the National Institutes of Health, according to a news release.
The program is open to adults 18 years old or older. Working in the Delta region, the WORD is seeking 450 participants from 30 churches to participate in this research project, according to the news release.
The Faith Task Force began in 2005 by a group of pastors and churches in Phillips County to help enhance the health of their members and the community.
The mission is to connect faith and health through the Bible in faith communities to help people become healthier. The WORD is a UAMS research program conducted in partnership with the task force to help people lose weight.
Details: Jerome Turner, a pastor at Poplar Grove, at 870-413-2553 or by email at jturner@suddenlinkmail.com or the UAMS principal investigator, Dr. Karen Kim-Yeary, at 501-562-6720.