Exploring the Swimming and Water Safety Behaviour Among Indian and Vietnamese Adults in Australia.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: From 2011 to 2021, drowning caused over 2.5 million preventable deaths, with Asia carrying the highest burden of drowning deaths. India and Vietnam are among the top 10 birth countries of people who drown in Australia. This study aimed to understand how Asian adults living in Australia develop health literacy in relation to swimming ability and water safety and how these skills are implemented in different aquatic environments.

METHODS

Three men and nine women between 20 and 79 years old born in India and Vietnam and living in Victoria, Australia were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Semi-structured online interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using a deductive approach.

RESULTS

Three interrelated themes emerged. First, there were cultural differences in how participants related to aquatic environments in their birth countries compared to Australia and the impact this had on their health literacy. Secondly, family influence on perceptions of aquatic environments determined participants' perception of risk and safety in aquatic environments. The last theme related to the differences in access, affordability and availability of swimming and water safety education and how this impacted participants' swimming ability.

CONCLUSIONS

A multisectoral approach is recommended involving councils, key multicultural organisations and community leaders to increase awareness of drowning prevention related health literacy within Asian communities and to implement targeted water safety education and swimming programmes.

SO WHAT: Targeted education, engagement and co-designing programmes with community leaders are needed to respond to the emerging trend of fatal drowning in Asian communities in Australia.