VIDEO: SAIA strives to elevate knowledge of IBD to eliminate cultural stigmas
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In this Healio video series, which focuses on cultural competency in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, Neilanjan Nandi, MD, FACP, discusses the importance of increasing community knowledge and destigmatizing IBD.
“Why should this matter?” Nandi, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and member of the South Asian IBD Alliance (SAIA), asked. “As we know, culture makes many things taboo, including chronic illness.”
According to Nandi, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis not only are relatively unknown entities in the South Asian community, but they often are not diagnosed for years or are misdiagnosed.
“We wish to elevate community knowledge in terms of public knowledge that these diseases do exist,” Nandi said.
One of the cultural barriers among South Asians with chronic diseases is marriageability and acceptance by the community, and many patients’ families blame their actions for their IBD. Through live webinars, patient advocacy and outreach, Nandi and colleagues in the SAIA hope to educate the community, increase acceptance of the disease and improve access to treatment.
Healio is working closely with the SAIA for this series. There has been an increase in the incidence and prevalence of IBD among South Asians, and the community faces many barriers to treatment and surgery. SAIA focuses on creating resources, research and education for IBD patients and health care providers of South Asian origin to reduce disparities and stigma, promote early diagnosis and improve treatment access.
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