Ashwati Nair
King�??s College London, UK
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Healthc Commun
Statement of Problem: The incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising worldwide. These conditions are typically chronic and include cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and diabetes among others. This rise is disproportionately higher in LMICs, significantly contributing to morbidity and mortality. In particular, India has seen a drastic rise in NCD-related premature death and ill health. The impoverishing nature of these conditions through catastrophic healthcare spending and income loss results in significant socioeconomic costs. It is thus increasingly important to explore the challenges to tackling this area of health and developing viable solutions. Lifestyle interventions, such as encouraging healthier dietary habits and promoting physical activity, represent a significant opportunity for improvement. However, despite increased efforts to promote such interventions, NCD burden remains high and little research has been conducted to understand why. The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers that prevent adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors for NCDs in India. Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: This study adopts a qualitative approach through thematic analysis of key informant interviews; key informants included various health professionals in India. The analysis is focused using the five levels of influence in McLeroy et al’s ecological model for health promotion and Jacobs et al’s four key dimensions of access barriers. Findings: The study highlights the various levels at which behaviors are influenced in India and identifies key barriers including poor health attitudes, inadequate awareness and information, sociocultural norms, food market, media, and structural barriers. Conclusion and Significance: It is evident that there are numerous factors that shape people’s attitudes towards lifestyle changes and their willingness and ability to adopt them. This study hopes to enable future policies and public health programmers to successfully promote healthy lifestyle behaviors for NCDs in India. Recommendations have been included to improve the adoption of these changes.
Ashwati Nair is a fourth-year medical student at King’s College London with a special interest in global health. She recently completed her MSc in Health and International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2021. This study was conducted as part of her final dissertation for the MSc. Her recent endeavours in this field include completing a Postgraduate Consultancy Project with the MICS division of UNICEF analysing global household data on menstrual hygiene management and participating in the Healthcare Leadership Academy’s Global Exchange weekend. She hopes to work in the field of global health to improve healthcare provision in developing countries alongside practising medicine in the UK in the future.
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