Improving Knowledge and Decreasing Blood Pressures with a Tailored Education Program on Lifestyle in Blacks in an Underserved Population

According to Moss et al (2018), Hypertension (HTN) is a major cause of the
disproportionately high rates of coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and chronic kidney
disease. For African-Americans, high blood pressure also develops earlier in life and is usually
more severe (American Heart Association, 2016). HTN is worth being addressed because it is a
very serious disease that can become a silent killer to all. This doctoral project addresses a
specific need of a tailored education program about HTN, a healthy diet aligned with the DASH
diet and exercise in the underserved population. The intention of this paper is to improve
participants’ hypertension knowledge, DASH diet adherence, and participation in physical
activity to decrease blood pressures, and to provide a comprehensive description of this quality
improvement project with recommendations for practice change. This project was implemented
through telehealth due to the current pandemic of COVID 19.