Church-based education: an outreach program for African Americans with hypertension

Area of Science:

• Community Health
• Public Health Interventions
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Hypertension (HBP) disproportionately affects African American (AA) communities.
• Effective community-based interventions are needed to improve HBP management in these populations.
• Engaging community settings like churches can increase healthcare accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To train registered nurses (RNs) as Church Health Educators (CHEs).
• To evaluate the efficacy of an HBP education and support program delivered by CHEs in AA churches.
• To assess the impact on participants' HBP knowledge, social support, and blood pressure (BP) management.

Main Methods:

• A two-phase study involving RN training and a subsequent intervention.
• 97 participants with HBP received an 8-session education program from CHEs.
• A pre-test-post-test design collected data on knowledge, social support, and BP at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in HBP knowledge were observed post-intervention and at follow-up (P < 0.0001).
• Systolic BP (SBP) and mean arterial BP (MAP) significantly decreased post-intervention and at follow-up (P < 0.0001).
• Diastolic BP (DBP) significantly decreased post-intervention (P < 0.008), and social support correlated with DBP and MAP.

Conclusions:

• The Church Health Educator model is effective for improving HBP knowledge and BP control in African American communities.
• Community-based health education programs delivered by trained lay educators can reduce hypertension-related health disparities.
• Challenges in recruitment, retention, and intervention design require consideration for future outreach programming.