The self-care behaviours and related acculturation factors among firstgeneration Chinese immigrants living with cardiovascular disease in Australia
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2025
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𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: Evidence-based self-care practices are crucial for better outcomes for people living with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but little is known about the self-care of Chinese immigrants with CVD. The Chinese immigrant population is one of the fast-growing immigrant populations in Western countries, so this is an important omission. This project explores the self-care behaviours among first-generation Chinese immigrants with CVD in Australia and the impact of acculturation on their self-care behaviours.
𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱: A mixed methods exploratory sequential design was employed for this study and recruited via Chinese community centres, social media and cardiac clinics. In phase one, a semi-structured interview was used to collect data, which was analysed by thematic data analysis in NVivo version 12. In phase two, a quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted in SPSS version 26.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: In total, 280 participants were recruited in this mixed methods study. Although Chinese immigrants actively engaged in CVD self-care practices, many of these practices had no evidential basis in Western medicine and were not recommended, particularly in response to cardiac events or stroke episodes. Participants who felt confident in their CVD-related health knowledge and searched for Western-resourced health information had significantly better CVD self-care. Many Chinese participants reported low levels of acculturation to Australian culture but perceived high self-efficacy in coping with acculturation stressors such as maintaining family relationships, utilising healthcare services and adapting to new lifestyles in Australia. Their individualised acculturation experiences, particularly in cultural practices, cultural values and utilising the new healthcare system, impacted their CVD self-care behaviours.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Sound knowledge of heart health and self-care management practice are generally lacking among first-generation Chinese Australians, attributed to the lack of access to linguistically and culturally appropriate heart health information. The impact of acculturation experiences on CVD self-care behaviours was shown to be complex and multifaceted. Findings make an important contribution to promote culturally appropriate practice by clinicians and inform the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate health education materials for Chinese immigrants to improve their knowledge and skills of CVD self-care. Partnering with community resources such as Chinese community associations offers an opportunity for co-design and dissemination of information about Australian healthcare systems and CVD health education to upskill CVD self-care practices and mitigate the health inequities experienced by Chinese immigrants in Australia.
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