The experiences and health care needs of Asian coronary patients and their partners. Methodological issues and preliminary findings.

The incidence of heart disease in the Asian population in the UK is high and mortality from coronary heart disease for both Asian men and women is also higher than for non-Asians. The need to provide more information on cardiac rehabilitation programmes is highlighted. Cultural factors influence how Asian people perceive the heart, health and health care practices. A number of methodological issues are pertinent to conducting research involving ethnic groups, namely inter vs intra group differences, victim blaming, sampling, measurement, language issues and researcher effect. The aim of the study is to design, refine and validate a number of tools for use with Asian people in relation to cardiac rehabilitation. Preliminary and tentative conclusions suggest that cardiac rehabilitation services need a higher profile within the Asian community and that established approaches to data collection may need to be challenged if accurate and relevant feedback is to be achieved.