Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Hypertension in the elderly population is a serious problem with approximately 65 million hypertensive adults in the United States. One important factor contributing to uncontrolled hypertension in the elderly population is medication non-adherence. The director of a cardiology clinic in Southern Georgia noted that older Black male patients were not taking their blood pressure medication as prescribed and as result had uncontrolled hypertension. It was proposed that a nurse protocol with tools to address non-adherence was an approach to address this problem. This qualitative key informant study identified a purposive sample of 10 Black men 65- 70 with a primary diagnosis of hypertension that was non-adherent in taking their hypertensive medication. The nurse conducted individual 45 minute teaching session with each participant that included tools to help them take their medication. A 15 minute follow-up phone call was done after one week. Participants were then interviewed about their perception of taking hypertensive medication. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes using constant comparative analysis. Six themes emerged: Medication Bottle Guides Medication Usage; Confusion about Side Effects; Reasons for Not Taking Medications; New Behavior; Unchanged Behavior, and Discovery of Other Problems. The overall result was that older Black men perceived that they were more adherent in taking their hypertensive medication following a nurse administered medication protocol. Key terms: Hypertensive, uncontrolled hypertensive, medication compliance, medication adherence, hypertensive in black men, and medication adherence protocol
Author: Ophelia Thomas
Institution: Regis University
Language: English
Subfield: Family Practice
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2337089060