Health education is an important component of effective health care, contributing to positive health behaviours and consequent improvements in psycho-social aspects of health (1). Despite the demonstrated benefits of providing health education, a lack of health education is a widespread problem among the general population in many countries (1). Furthermore, migrants face additional barriers accessing health education due to a range of factors such as having limited language proficiency (2), poor digital literacy (3), limited social support networks (4) and different socio-cultural values than the dominant population in their host country (5). A recent scoping review on the effectiveness of patient education for migrants with heart disease, found significant gaps in reporting the adaptation process for educational interventions for migrants from culturally diverse backgrounds (6). It is important to recognise that delivering trusted, and effective health education involves more than having access to websites and pamphlets translated into different languages (7). Health education appears to be most effective when information is delivered in negotiated partnership with migrant communities that empower them to make informed lifestyle and behavioural changes in a culturally appropriate and safe manner (8-10).

Cultural competency requires health educators to learn about the particular norms, behaviours and practices of how other cultures prefer to engage in cross-cultural dialogue (11). It also requires health educators to engage in flexible thinking to adjust professional work styles to meet the values, expectations, and preferences of culturally diverse migrant groups (11, 12). An extension of delivering culturally competent health education is to do so in a culturally safe manner, which requires health educators to acknowledge and respect the cultural beliefs and values of migrant communities, recognise homeland practices and any historical trauma associated with their migrant experience (13-15).

In countries with a large ageing migrant population, delivering health education focused on healthy ageing in a culturally competent and safe manner is of growing importance (14). Yet, a recent study among older migrants found that they were less likely to engage in help-seeking behaviour from mainstream channels, instead preferring to draw upon alternative pathways rooted in their health beliefs shaped by cultural and religious context (16). For countries such as Australia, this presents a serious public health concern, given that a recent national ageing research report (17) found that Australia’s European-born population aged 65 years and over is expected to decline over the next decade while the Asian-born population in Australia aged 65 years and over is projected to reach 1.5 million by 2056 (17). According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics census (18), almost 40% of all migrants from culturally diverse backgrounds were aged 50 years and over compared to 32.4% of Australia’s total population aged 50 and over.