Culture, Ethnicity and Chronic Conditions ─ A Global Synthesis

The global burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as hypertension, diabetes and cancers, and of common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, has a disproportionate impact on the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The pattern persists in African and Asian migrant populations in European and North American countries, despite the higher standards of living and improved health infrastructure. The consensus of experts is that pragmatic, cost-effective and sustainable interventions are required, and that these must prioritise the social determinants of NCDs as well as the social participation of affected communities. Despite the growing emphasis on the role of social processes in health system responses to chronic disease in LMICs, there has been no definitive volume that brings together LMIC perspectives on these issues.

This book aims to address this major gap by presenting new conceptual and empirical perspectives on the interconnections between culture, ethnicity and chronic conditions in LMICs and their implications for research, intervention and policy. The chapters focus on lay and institutional meanings, experiences and responses to chronic conditions in selected countries in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnicity and Health.

Charles Agyemang is a senior research and PI in Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is currently the vice President for European Public Health Association, Migrant Health section. His research focuses on cardiovascular diseases among ethnic minority and migrant groups in Europe and cardiovascular diseases in low resource settings.

Ama de-Graft Aikins is Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Ghana, and African Initiative Fellow at LSE Health, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Her research focuses on experiences of, and interventions for, diabetes and related chronic physical and mental conditions.