Using a culturally sensitive lifestyle modification toolkit to manage hypertension among West African immigrants

Blood pressure control remains a challenge for healthcare providers throughout the country. People of African descent, including West African immigrants, are at a greater risk of developing premature cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Lack of education, significant cultural misconceptions about hypertension are barriers to achieving adequate blood pressure control in this population. Objective: This project aimed to employ a culturally sensitive lifestyle modification toolkit to manage hypertension among West African immigrants aged 21–65. Methods: This quasi-experimental project was conducted in a West African Church in central New Jersey and over Zoom for six weeks. Blood pressures were measured pre-intervention and post-intervention. The hypertension Evaluation of Lifestyle and Management scale (HELM) was used to assess knowledge and lifestyle management, while the Hill-Bone scale (HB-MAS) was used to assess medication adherence. Results: There were statistically significant improvements at the alpha=0.05 threshold. The Wilcoxen signed rank sum test revealed statistically significant improvement in HELM questionnaire scores (S=52.5, p=0.0001), HB-MAS questionnaire scores (S=7.0, p=0.0001), and systolic S= -51.5 (p=0.0002) and diastolic (S= -52.5, p=0.0001) blood pressure measurements. Implications for Practice: This project’s findings support other evidence-based studies that have concluded that hypertension education is a practical and effective strategy to reduce racial disparities in hypertension control. Congruently, a culturally sensitive approach to dealing with high-risk West African immigrants might be more effective in controlling hypertension among this population.DNPIncludes bibliographical reference