One of the most powerful drivers of health is something hard to measure: hope and the relationships that help people hold onto it. That is where faith-based communities have played a powerful, yet sometimes underappreciated, role in public health.

Faith-based communities and organizations provide many of the supports public health experts recognize as essential, including social connection, accountability, purpose, stress reduction, practical assistance, and trusted community leadership. Research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health led by Dr. Howard Koh shows these factors can meaningfully influence health behaviors, including tobacco and nicotine cessation.

Perhaps most importantly, faith communities tend to see people as more than the health challenge they are facing. They care for the whole person—mind, body, relationships, purpose, and spirit—recognizing that lasting recovery is about rebuilding a life, not simply ending an addiction. While public health practitioners do this too, for some people, faith communities may offer a different approach to helping restore a person.

SUPPORT FOR A WHOLE PERSON APPROACH

Addiction often takes root amid stress, mental health challenges, loneliness, trauma, or the belief that nothing will change. People trying to quit are often navigating anxiety, isolation, financial pressure, social dynamics that reinforce use, and deeply ingrained ways of coping with life’s challenges. Public health often speaks in terms of reducing risk, while faith-based communities bring healing and belonging. One addresses addiction directly; in tandem, while the other helps the person rediscover hope, purpose, and a sense of self. Lasting recovery benefits from both.

People are more likely to persevere when they believe their lives have a purpose, that they are worthy of love, and that they do not have to face their struggles alone. Faith-based communities encourage healthier behaviors and surround people with relationships that reinforce dignity, accountability, forgiveness after setbacks, and the courage to begin again.

SPIRITUALITY AND RECOVERY

At a time when nicotine use is resurging and stress remains high, helping people quit—and stay quit—requires information, human connection, new coping skills, and the resilience to try again. Faith-based communities have been helping people rebuild their lives this way for generations.

A growing body of research has demonstrated that spirituality can play a meaningful role in behavior change and recovery, including nicotine addiction. Studies have shown that individuals with strong spiritual or religious engagement are often less likely to smoke and, in some cases, more likely to quit successfully. Our research, led Dr. Koh, also points to several contributing factors: stronger social networks, behavioral norms that discourage tobacco use, greater optimism and resilience, and access to consistent emotional support during periods of stress or recovery.

More recently, researchers have begun quantifying that impact. This year, the same research study my co-author led examined the relationship between spirituality and tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use outcomes across the 55 most rigorous longitudinal studies published in the 21^st century. The findings showed a significant protective association of roughly 13% for both prevention and recovery outcomes, rising to 18% for those who attend at least weekly religious services. Notably, the consistency of the findings across the four substance categories suggests that these same protective dynamics may extend to nicotine addiction and vaping as well.

COMMUNITY HELPS SUSTAIN CHANGE

We have seen this firsthand in ourEX Program’s Christian Quitters group of over 400 members, who connect online to talk about quitting nicotine through shared faith, encouragement, accountability, and support.

What makes communities like these effective is feeling understood. Members celebrate milestones, encourage one another through cravings and setbacks, and remind each other that one difficult day does not erase weeks or months of progress. Recovery becomes less about individual willpower and more about collective perseverance. Healing happens because people know they will not face the journey alone.

EX Program has also hosted community events focused on broader spirituality and quitting that reinforced key themes emerging across both research and lived experience: Faith and spirituality can help people build resilience, navigate cravings, maintain motivation, find meaning in the recovery process, and move forward when quitting feels especially difficult.

None of this suggests that faith alone should replace evidence-based care. Rather, spirituality can augment evidence-based interventions. Nicotine addiction remains a serious public health issue that requires accessible, proven cessation resources. But these experiences also highlight a broader lesson for public health leaders: People are more likely to sustain healthy behaviors when they feel supported, connected, grounded, and hopeful about their future.

RECOVERY GROWS IN COMMUNITY

The United States is facing a disconnection crisis. Isolation, burnout, anxiety, and chronic stress are shaping health outcomes, workplace productivity, and quality of life. Many people are searching for ways to cope and feel like they belong. In that environment, addictive products can easily position themselves as relief, even when they ultimately deepen stress and dependency.

Faith-based communities offer an alternative framework—one rooted in community, accountability, meaning, hope, and care for others. They remind people that their struggles do not define their worth, that they are loved even in their hardest moments, that they can change, and that their lives still have purpose.

Perhaps the most important lesson faith-based communities offer is both spiritual and profoundly human: People change most successfully when they believe they matter to someone else, find purpose beyond themselves, and know they do not have to walk through hardship alone.

As the country confronts addiction, isolation, and growing mental health challenges, public health must continue investing in science, evidence-based treatment, and innovation. But it should also recognize one of the oldest and most powerful health resources we have: communities that help people find hope, belonging, and the courage to keep going.

Kathy Crosby is the president and CEO of Truth Initiative and Howard Koh, MD, MPH, is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the practice of public health leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.