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Effectiveness of a Cultural Stroke Prevention Program in the United States—South Asian Health Awareness About Stroke (SAHAS)

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Abstract

There are few stroke education programs focused on the South Asian population in the United States. The South Asian Health Awareness about Stroke (SAHAS) program was developed to provide culturally appropriate stroke education to South Asians from 2014 to 2017. Participants recruited for the SAHAS program were educated through a uniquely developed, culturally-specific, educational presentation. Each participant was asked to complete identical educational questionnaires both before (pre-) and after (post-) the intervention, which were then scored and evaluated. Overall, the 357 participants who completed the SAHAS program had a significant, modest 9% improvement in questionnaire score (p < 0.0001). After adjusting for confounders, those ≤ 60 years had a 2.9-point greater increase in score than those > 60 (p < 0.0001). Having programs targeted and developed for specific minority groups with an emphasis on familial commitment and active participation may aid in raising awareness and reducing the elevated adverse stroke outcomes in South Asians.

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Abbreviations

SAHAS:

South Asian Health Awareness about Stroke

BP:

Blood Pressure

BMI:

Body Mass Index

US:

United States

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mr. Sreenivas Reddy, M.Pharm, for helping with the program in its early stages and Ms. Vanessa Rios, BA, for coordinating the SAHAS sessions.

Funding

This study was funded by State of New Jersey Department of Health (Grant No. MGMT15HDP018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. South Asian Total Health Initiative, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Aayush Visaria, Tina Dharamdasani, Sunanda Gaur, Bishakha Ghoshal, Varsha Singh, Shailja Mathur & Christina Varghese

  2. Department of Family and Community Health Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Shailja Mathur

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Kitaw Demissie

  4. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Kitaw Demissie

Authors
  1. Aayush Visaria
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  2. Tina Dharamdasani
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  3. Sunanda Gaur
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  4. Bishakha Ghoshal
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  5. Varsha Singh
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  6. Shailja Mathur
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  7. Christina Varghese
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  8. Kitaw Demissie
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Correspondence to Aayush Visaria or Sunanda Gaur.

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Visaria, A., Dharamdasani, T., Gaur, S. et al. Effectiveness of a Cultural Stroke Prevention Program in the United States—South Asian Health Awareness About Stroke (SAHAS). J Immigrant Minority Health 23, 747–754 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01071-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01071-w

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