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Cardiovascular Disease & Cancer Risk Among South Asians: Impact of Sociocultural Influences on Lifestyle and Behavior

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Abstract

A comprehensive literature review revealed cultural beliefs, societal obligations, and gender roles within the South Asian community to be indirect contributors to the health of South Asian immigrants (SAIs). Health professionals need to increase their work with SAI communities to change less beneficial cultural elements such as misconceptions about health and exercise, and lack of communication when using alternative medicines. Community engaged efforts and continuing medical education are both needed to improve the health of the South Asian immigrant population in a culturally appropriate manner.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Namratha Kandula

  2. Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA

    Munerah Ahmed

  3. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine & Center for Health Equity and Quality Research, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Sunita Dodani

  4. Life Sciences Research and Surveys, Gerson Lehrman Group, New York, NY, USA

    Leena Gupta

  5. Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA

    Paromita Hore

  6. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Alka Kanaya

  7. Kemah Palms Recovery, Kemah, TX, USA

    Aijaz Khowaja

  8. South Asian Heart Center, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA, USA

    Ashish Mathur

  9. Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Darshan Mehta

  10. Department of Health and Kinesiology, College of Education and Human Development, Center for the Study of Health Disparities, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Ranjita Misra

  11. Asian Human Services Family Health Center, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA

    Muhammad Paracha

  12. Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nazleen Bharmal

  13. United Nations, Delhi, India

    Mira Aghhi

  14. Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  15. Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  16. Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  17. Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Francesca Gany

Authors
  1. Namratha Kandula
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  2. Munerah Ahmed
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  3. Sunita Dodani
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  4. Leena Gupta
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  5. Paromita Hore
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  6. Alka Kanaya
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  7. Aijaz Khowaja
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  8. Ashish Mathur
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  9. Darshan Mehta
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  10. Ranjita Misra
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  11. Muhammad Paracha
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  12. Nazleen Bharmal
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  13. Mira Aghhi
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  14. Jennifer Leng
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  15. Francesca Gany
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Gany.

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Kandula, N., Ahmed, M., Dodani, S. et al. Cardiovascular Disease & Cancer Risk Among South Asians: Impact of Sociocultural Influences on Lifestyle and Behavior. J Immigrant Minority Health 21 (Suppl 1), 15–25 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0578-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0578-4

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