Date of this Version
12-2-2021
Document Type
DNP Project
Abstract
Hypertension is a chronic condition that requires long-term management. Though medication adherence is a significant factor in managing the condition., compliance to treatment has been considered a challenge among African Americans. Non-compliance to antihypertensive as led to a high prevalence of hypertension among this population; however, there is limited data to support this observation.
This project targeted 20 patients from a South Florida primary care practice, identified by the primary care provider as being non-compliant to their medication and treatment plans. The project consisted of an educational approach to text those patients daily, reminding them to take them medication along with educational information. All communication and teaching was done remotely via email and text messages.
This study aims to identify if a daily reminder to patients to take their blood pressure medication in the form of a text message along with daily lifestyle modifications and education can improve blood pressure control after four weeks. Participants completed a pretest and a posttest to assess their knowledge of medication adherence and disease management. A daily text reminder to take medications along with a piece of lifestyle modification advice was sent to the patients. The intervention assessment was divided into two categories: the impact on medication adherence and the effect on hypertension management skills.
The posttest results confirmed that participants showed an improved ability to adhere to the medication regimen after the intervention. Before the self-management education intervention, 35% of the participants remembered the name of the medication they were taking to stabilize their blood pressure. After the Education intervention, 90% of the respondents recalled their medication’s name. The findings confirmed that self-management education improved participants’ medication memory, thus potentially improved their compliance levels. The findings also confirmed that self-management education can improve medication compliance, and, consequently, lower the cost of healthcare in hypertensive African Americans.
Keywords: medication, adherence, drugs, hypertension, African Americans, noncompliance
Recommended Citation
"Improving Medication Adherence in Hypertensive African American Patients at a South Florida Clinic. A Quality Improvement Project." (2021). Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing Student Projects. 65.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cnhs-studentprojects/65