'What we don't know, will hurt us!: an assessment of cardiovascular risk among Pasifika communities in Western Sydney.

Start year: 2025

Summary: This project aims to address the critical gap in understanding cardiovascular comorbidities among Pasifika communities in Western Sydney, a population significantly underrepresented in health research. The project will consist of two components: a clinical audit and community-based qualitative research. The first component involves an audit of de-identified data from Blacktown Hospital’s Heart Failure Clinic, focusing on 60–80 self-identified Pasifika patients. The audit will assess cardiovascular disease incidence, multimorbidity, health presentation characteristics, treatment outcomes (e.g., hospital admissions, length of stay), and medication use. Additionally, we will collaborate with the Clinical Analytics Unit to explore generating a report based on available electronic medical record (eMR) data to further assess cardiovascular risk profiles within this population. The second component involves community-based qualitative research through Talanoa sessions, culturally relevant focus groups designed to explore barriers to healthcare access, engagement with community health services and GPs, and perceptions of cardiovascular risk and preventive care. Recruitment will be integrated within the Pasifika Moving initiative, a well-established and trusted community-led physical activity program, ensuring strong participation. Findings from this study will inform targeted, culturally responsive interventions to improve cardiovascular health outcomes for Pasifika communities and contribute to advancing health equity in Western Sydney.