Improving Dietary Habits in African American Patients with Essential Hypertension

Abstract

The objective of this quality improvement (QI) project was to educate African American patients diagnosed with hypertension about healthy dieting to improve blood pressure. The Joint National Committee (JNC 8) Hypertension Guidelines were referenced for this project. This project was implemented at Advanced Internal Medicine starting in September 2019 at an outpatient clinic in Stockbridge, GA under the supervision of Dr. Alicia Shelly. The PICOT question used to guide this project was: In African American (AA) adults, can dietary educational sessions about the DASH diet improve knowledge and confidence for blood pressure control? During the initial encounter, patients were given a pre-test to complete to assess their knowledge on hypertension and dieting and their readiness to change their diet. Patients were educated on healthy dietary intake for hypertension following the DASH diet recommendations and then given a post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative. The resources given to patients included an educational pamphlet, including information about the DASH diet, with a dietary food group table attached for reference. The hypothesis stated that the implementation of an educational program about healthy dieting in hypertensive AA patients would present a significant increase in knowledge and confidence level to modify their diet for blood pressure control. The results showed that participants had a significant increase in knowledge gain and confidence level following the educational intervention. This project is an example of a quasiexperimental design group study, pre-test/post-test. Keywords: African American (AA), hypertension, blood pressure, guidelines, DASH diet, outpatient.