Mosques and churches are untapped allies in closing the UK’s ethnic health gap, study finds

LONDON (MNTV) – Faith communities could play a far greater role in tackling persistent health inequalities among ethnic minorities in the U.K. — but are currently being underused by the NHS and public health bodies, according to new research published in BMJ Public Health.

The scoping review, led by researchers at Imperial College London and University College London, examined a decade of evidence on how faith groups have been engaged in public health work, and found that while the potential is significant, the approach has been piecemeal, underfunded, and rarely community-led.

What the research found

Reviewing 16 U.K. studies published between 2015 and 2024, the researchers found that faith communities — including Muslim, Christian and Jewish groups — have been involved in a range of health initiatives, from cancer screening awareness in East London mosques to COVID-19 vaccination drives and mental health programmes in Black African and Caribbean church communities.

In nearly every case, places of worship served as trusted, accessible hubs that helped reach people conventional health services often struggle to engage.

The benefits were real. Participants showed improved health knowledge, greater willingness to engage with screening and vaccination, and reduced stigma around sensitive topics like mental health. Community members who took on volunteer and peer roles reported gains in confidence, leadership skills and a stronger sense of ownership over local health outcomes.

Yet the review also found that faith communities are rarely invited to lead. Most initiatives were designed by researchers or NHS bodies, with faith groups brought in primarily as delivery vehicles rather than equal partners.

True community-led approaches — where faith groups identify their own health priorities and shape the response — were found in only one of the 16 studies examined.

Trust is everything — and hard to build

The research identified trust as the single most important factor determining whether faith-health partnerships succeed or fail. When public health bodies took time to build genuine relationships with faith leaders and congregations, engagement flourished. When they did not, communities were sceptical — particularly around vaccines and mental health, where stigma and historical mistrust of medical institutions ran deep.

Language barriers, inadequate training for community volunteers, funding constraints and power imbalances within faith institutions — particularly around women’s participation — were among the most commonly reported obstacles.

Why this matters

The stakes are high. Ethnic health inequalities in the U.K. are well documented and persistent, spanning infant mortality, childhood obesity, cancer screening uptake, cardiovascular disease and mental health outcomes. The researchers note that these disparities are not simply a product of deprivation — they are fundamentally shaped by structural racism and discrimination, including within health systems themselves.

With 81% of the U.K.’s ethnic minority population identifying with a religion, faith communities represent an enormous, largely untapped resource. Their reach into communities that public health bodies struggle to access, combined with the trust they command among their congregations, makes them natural partners — if the health system is willing to share power and provide sustained support.

What needs to change

The authors call for a fundamental shift in how faith communities are engaged — moving away from one-off, locally siloed initiatives toward long-term, properly resourced partnerships embedded within NHS structures. They recommend multiyear funding, fair compensation for faith volunteers, cultural and linguistic tailoring of health programmes, and genuine co-design with communities from the outset.

They also call for better evaluation.

Most existing studies focused only on short-term psychosocial outcomes such as knowledge and attitudes. Almost none measured whether interventions actually changed health behaviours, reduced inequalities or addressed the structural conditions — poverty, racism, poor housing — that drive poor health in the first place.

“Faith communities are vital partners in tackling ethnic health inequalities,” the authors conclude, “but they are currently engaged within a limited scope.” Without greater investment and a genuine shift toward community-led approaches, they warn, the potential of faith-health collaboration will remain largely unrealised.