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Laurice Fretwell
De Montfort University, UK
Keynote: Curr Res Integr Med
Purpose: This systematic review examines the factors/barriers which prevent ethnic minority patients from accessing or completing their cardiac rehabilitation programs. Background: Cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to improve physical health, encourage healthier lifestyles and decrease cardiac mortality and morbidity. However, despite these benefits ethnic minority patients often have the lowest attendance rates in comparison to the rest of the population. This review is exploring why this is and what can be done. Methods: A systematic review following barriers which prevent ethnic minority patients from attending and completing their programs were analyzed. For this review, only primary research papers (qualitative and mixed methods studies) were considered. We excluded systematic and literature reviews, perspective papers and meta-analysis. There were no restrictions placed in terms of country and date of publication. Around 387 journals were found through selected search terms, which were then analyzed through the CASP framework model. Currently, over 10 journals have been analyzed and their themes identified below. Conclusion: Six overarching themes have been identified in assessing the lack of uptake and upkeep of cardiac rehabilitation amongst ethnic minority patients: Language barriers, knowledge of cardiac rehabilitation services, accessibility, fatalistic health beliefs, gender, cultural and religious influences and support. Changes in the management of these services can help to eliminate the above barriers.
Laurice Fretwell is a Senior Lecturer and Acting Associate Head of School in the department of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, UK. Her research interest includes Cardiovascular disease, Cardiovascular cell signalling, Physiology, Pharmacology, GPCRs, VEGFRs. She completed her BSc in Physiology and Pharmacology – Nottingham Trent University in the year 2005. In 2009, she completed her PhD in Cardiovascular Cell Signalling – Nottingham Trent University. In 2013, she completed her Career Development Fellow in Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery – The University of Nottingham. Since starting at De Montfort University, Laurice has diversified her research to span both laboratory-based investigations and health-related research, forging collaborations with local clinicians and Psychology colleagues at De Montfort University. She is currently supervising one PhD student and two MRes students, and is now focusing on growing her research team and developing expertise in meta-analysis.
E-mail: lfretwell@dmu.ac.uk
+44-7723-59-8358
