Initiative on Faith, Trust, and Health

Faith shapes how billions of people around the world understand health, illness, and care – an estimated 84% of people worldwide identify with a religious group. However, faith perspectives are often overlooked when communicating health messages or delivering services. As a result, health interventions may fail to reach communities, allowing existing inequities to persist. 

Evidence shows us that when faith actors are meaningfully engaged, they can expand access to care and improve health outcomes, especially for marginalized and hard-to-reach populations. In fact, faith-based organizations deliver a significant share of health services in underserved areas and humanitarian settings around the world. Yet, their role remains under-recognized and overlooked in global health systems and response efforts.

Strategic Aims

• Generate and disseminate evidence on how religious beliefs and practices intersect with health outcomes, trust in health science, and health system performance
• Strengthen partnerships between faith actors, health practitioners and policymakers
• Build capacity at the intersection of faith, health, and policy

Building the Evidence and Agenda for Action

The Initiative’s work is grounded in a fundamental need for better evidence and clearer understanding of how diverse religiously linked health teachings and practice intersects with health outcomes at the individual, community, and system level.

Our flagship project, the Georgetown-Lancet Commission on Faith, Trust, and Health, is an ongoing global effort that convenes leaders across faith traditions, geographic regions, academic disciplines, and health system and policy sectors to:

Why Georgetown?

Georgetown University’s Catholic identity, emphasis on interfaith dialogue, reputation as a global policy hub, and deep expertise across disciplines uniquely positions us to lead this effort. Since our founding, we have been guided by a mission to serve others in the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, or care of the person.

Our location in Washington, DC, enables us to connect research to decision makers—translating knowledge in global and public health, theology and religious studies, public policy and governance, and international development into real-world impact.

The Initiative collaborates across the university’s deep and wide-ranging expertise, including the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Center for Global Health Practice and Impact, Center for Jewish Civilization, Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and other university partners.