264143 Relationship between religious involvement and Asian immigrant health in the U.S

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM

Ephraim Shapiro, PHD, MPA, MBA , Institute of Community Health and Research, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY
Background: Religious communities can affect immigrant lives in many ways, including health-related ones. There is a paucity of research however, about the intersection of religion, immigration and health. Earlier research I conducted showed an association between religious involvement and U.S. Latino immigrant health, consistent with the hypothesized theory of social and religious capital. I now examine the religion-health connection for Asian-Americans, a much more heterogeneous group ethnically and religiously.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between religious involvement and health status and health behaviors for Asian-American immigrants and analyze variations in the relationship by key variables.

Methodology: Almost 900 immigrants from the largest Asian sending countries, including China, India, Korea and the Philippines, were analyzed using the randomized New Immigrant Survey data set. Multivariate analyses were performed for health status and health behavior outcomes with congregation attendance level, while controlling for religious, immigrant and demographic characteristics. Variations by denomination, ethnicity and acculturation were analyzed. Comparisons were made with earlier Latino results.

Results: Some associations exist between religion and health for Asian-Americans but findings are more complex and difficult to interpret than for Latinos. Variations exist by ethnic and religious variables. Home country church attendance has a stronger relationship with outcomes for Asians than Latinos. Policy and methodological implications will be discussed.

Conclusion: Considering the context in which people live is important; the social and religious capital from Asian-American religious communities can potentially be leveraged to counteract their often worsening chronic disease health outcomes. However, findings are complex with important variations.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1) Understand the relationship between church-going and the health status and health behaviors of Asian-American immigrants. 2) Identify variations among key Asian immigrant groups in the relationship between religion and health as well as differences in this relationship with that for Latinos. 3) Discuss the implications of these findings for developing innovative interventions to prevent and manage chronic disease among Asian immigrants.

Keywords: Asian Americans, Religion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have training and experience in immigrant health research with prior research involving the intersection of religion, immigration and health, particularly chronic diseases and health behaviors
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.