Justina Okeke
USA
Biography
African Americans have the highest number of premature deaths and disabilities from hypertension disease (CDC, 2019). It is estimated that hypertension among black adults who reside in Dallas, Texas, is as high as 86 % (Dallas County.org, 2016). The quasi-experimental project was framed by Orem's self-care theory to encouraged patients to be as independent as possible. A self-selected sample of N=35 home bound African Americans in South Dallas, Texas between 40 and 80 years of age participated in an intervention. The practice improvement project involved personal coaching on healthy lifestyle behaviors and self-blood measure monitoring to increase self- efficacy in management of hypertension and to lower the systolic blood pressure measurements. A paired samples t-test estimated that the average systolic blood pressure decreased from 151.1to 118.8 (8.8). The 32.7mmHg decrease in SBP was significant (t=-18.06, p<.001) and suggests the intervention was successful in lowering systolic blood pressure readings between baseline and the 8-week follow-up. These findings carry significant clinical implications for the use of health coaching to support healthy behavioral change, self-monitoring of blood pressure, manage hypertension, and prevent other chronic co-morbidities such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Future studies on non-pharmacological interventions for promoting lifestyle change in this highly vulnerable population are strongly recommended.