Communities and Local Government
A selection of images representing communities.
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- Communities and neighbourhoods
- Race, cohesion and faith
- Race and ethnicity
- Race Case Studies
- Tackling coronary heart disease in Bristol
Tackling coronary heart disease in Bristol
Nationally, the incidence of coronary heart disease is 50% higher in the South Asian community than in the population as a whole.
Despite this, people of South Asian origin are less likely to access help at an early stage of the disease. Two Primary Care Trusts in Bristol have teamed up to try and address this issue after they found out that people of South Asian descent in their communities had very little knowledge about heart disease. It was also found that doctors were less likely to talk to them about lifestyle changes they could make to improve their health.
The trusts published information in a number of languages and held successful awareness days. Just as important, however, was the use of peer education. People like Mohammed Ainul Islam, born in Bangladesh, became advisors to the community, educating people about health risk factors. In two years, Islam has worked individually with 200 clients to help them quit smoking, and has built strong relationships within the community, meaning that people now often come to him for help.
