Coronary heart disease and migrant Asian Indians : experience, health, knowledge, beliefs and behaviours

It is consistently documented in the literature that Asian Indians are at high risk of coronary heart disease and this risk is exacerbated among migrant Asian Indians globally. Asian Indians have a premature, markedly severe and malignant course of coronary heart disease. This study was built on the premise that in order to provide culturally competent and sensitive care for migrant Asian Indians with coronary heart disease in a multicultural society such as Australia, it is important to explore migrant Asian Indians’ experiences, risk factor knowledge and health beliefs and behaviours in relation to coronary heart disease. Findings indicate the need for health promotion and cardiac illness prevention programs that use intervention models of health behaviour change and are sensitive to the needs of migrants from Asian Indian culture. The major limitation of the study was that the data obtained were from a group of tertiary-educated migrant Indians. Future studies should explore the coronary heart disease perspectives of migrant Indians with different education levels and from the perspective of second-generation Indians in Australia