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: Objective: Oral cancer is widespread in South Asia, particularly India. In Australia, Indians are one of the fastest?growing communities. This study aimed to explore the oral cancer?related knowledge, attitudes and practices of Indian immigrants in Australia. Methods: Fourteen semi?structured interviews were conducted with Indian immigrants residing across New South Wales and Victoria. Purposive and snowball sampling were used for recruitment. Data were analysed through a directed content analysis approach. Results: All participants were knowledgeable of oral cancer risks associated with tobacco and alcohol, but few were familiar with the harmful effects of areca nut preparations. Varied attitudes were evident with most participants acknowledging the importance of oral cancer check?ups, yet very few followed this practice. All participants admitted engaging in oral cancer risk practices including areca nut use at least once or more in their lifetime. Conclusion: Oral cancer risk practices are common among Indian immigrants in Australia who possess limited knowledge with varying attitudes in this area. Implications for public health: Preventative strategies are needed to limit the use of oral cancer risk products among Indian immigrants. General practitioners and community organisations can play a key role in raising awareness in this area., Migration has been a key factor impacting social and economic transformations globally. In 2019, about 272 million international migrants were estimated worldwide, which is approximately 3.5% of the total population.[sup.1] [...]

Students from Asian countries form the largest group of mobile international students in Western anglophone countries. Despite research on the mobility experiences of international students to anglophone and non-anglophone countries, there are limited cross-comparative, mixed-method studies exploring the experiences of host language acquisition and usage and how these impact on academic performance and shapes social connectedness. This study contributes further understanding by exploring language acquisition experiences of international university students in Taiwan and Australia, where the language of instruction is not their native language. In the two universities studied, usage levels (general usage, speaking, reading, listening and writing) differed and depended on situational and contextual needs. Those studying in Australia consistently reported higher mean scores of host language usage across three of the five components: listening, reading and writing. Written communication was perceived to be a challenge for both groups during interviews. Overall, students preferred face-to-face classroom learning and highly valued peer support. Information communication and technology use was common in supporting vocabulary and pronunciation. We discuss how the findings of our study inform the types of academic learning support needed, and how these differed, depending on the host language, and student background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Few people with limited English proficiency are provided with the services of a healthcare interpreter when admitted to hospital. This retrospective study utilised health administrative data to explore which patients with limited English proficiency were provided with a healthcare interpreter during their hospital admission. Method A retrospective analysis of health administrative data for adult overnight-stay patients admitted to a public hospital in a region of significant cultural and linguistic diversity in Sydney, Australia in 2014–2015. Descriptive analyses were used to explore demographic and diagnostic data. Chi-square and analysis of variance were used to test for association between variables. Results The site hospital provided for 19,627 overnight-stay episodes of care over the one year period. Emergency admissions made up 70.5% (n = 13,845) of all hospital admissions and obstetric patients 11.7% (n = 2291). For 15.7% (n = 3074) of episodes of care a healthcare interpreter was identified at hospital admission as being required. In 3.7% (n = 727) of episodes of care a healthcare interpreter was provided. Patients who received an interpreter were more likely to be female, of a younger age and admitted to hospital for childbirth. Conclusions A minority of patients with limited English proficiency received a healthcare interpreter during their episode of care. The majority of interpreter services were provided to obstetric patients.

Adherence and participation can be improved in health programs for older people with concerns about falling. While health literacy empowers older people to have greater control over their health, little is known about the extent to which health literacy influences health behaviours associated with concerns about falling in older people. This study aimed to synthesise current findings on health literacy, concerns about falling and falls to propose a multicomponent theoretical model on health literacy and concerns about falling. The model was developed based on a review of the literature, existing frameworks and models on health literacy and concerns about falling. Existing evidence on the relationship between health literacy and concerns about falling in older people is limited. Evidence from other research areas, however, shows that health literacy is closely related to many of the determinants of concerns about falling. More research is needed to clarify the impact of health literacy on intervention adherence and decision-making processes of older people with concerns about falling. Our model offers a novel perspective on the role of health literacy in health behaviours associated with concerns about falling, suggesting new research directions and providing insights for clinicians to consider health literacy when managing older patients with concerns about falling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]