Patient Hypertension Education & Compliance

Hypertension has been estimated to affect over 15 percent of the general population in North America, and is a leading risk factor for coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure stroke, kidney disease, and retinopathy (Fodor, 1994); in the United States alone, it is estimated that 50 to 60 million people suffer from hypertension (Bittar, 1995). In the past two decades the proportion of treated patients with well-controlled hypertension has increased to over 40 percent; however, one third are either unaware of their condition, or the reduction of blood pressure in those treated is unsatisfactory (Fodor, 1994).

Some hypertensive conditions are considered to be "resistant;" usually such conditions are present when a patient's diastolic blood pressure remains above 90 mm Hg despite the use of full doses of normally affective hypertensive medications. According to Kaplan (1995) such cases are usually the result of patient refusal to make those lifestyles changes that would reduce blood pressure, (e.g. lose weight, stop drinking, stop smoking) and/or follow their medical regimen.

As can be seen from the foregoing, a large part of the reason that many patients blood pressure is unsatisfactorily treated is considered to be non-compliance with their treatment protocols. Another way of saying this is that a large percentage of hypertension patients stop taking their medication and refuse

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how strong gains on the measures of knowledge, medication compliance and compliance with health care appointments. Schultz and Sheps (1994) investigated patient eduction and hypertension control and compliance in a clinic setting (Mayo Clinic). The clinic approach was designed to manage hypertensive outpatients. Methods involved the use of a team approach utilizing hypertension specialists including nurses, dietitians, and nurse educators. In addition, the clinic program required patients to take an active role in their own care, especially in terms of complying with their medical regime, changing their lifestyle, and regularly attending the clinic for follow-up monitoring, examination for medication side-effects and symptom reporting. Each patient established individual goals and worked with nurse clinicians to achieve these goals. Physicians at the clinic reviewed the progress of each patient at regular intervals. According to Schultz and Sheps (1994), evaluation of program effects revealed that the team approach yielded optimal control of hypertension in short-term and long-term patients; that is, the effects were strong in magnitude and met the complete objectives and the goals of the clinic. The effects of an educ
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1596
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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