Identifying Barriers to Self-Management and Medication Adherence in the Afro-Caribbean Aging Population with Hypertension

Hypertension affects nearly half of all adults in the United States (US) or 108 million individuals, and one out of every four adults is affected (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). Furthermore, more than 30% of individuals with hypertension in the United States do not take their medication as directed, increasing the risks of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and morbidity and death rates among Afro- Caribbean adults with HTN (CDC, 2020). Non-adherence is a leading cause of health issues in the treatment of chronic disorders like hypertension. Furthermore, these negative consequences exacerbate preexisting health issues in disadvantaged communities, necessitating self-management and medication adherence improvements (Moss, 2019).
This quality improvement (QI) initiative aims to enhance health outcomes for Afro-Caribbean individuals diagnosed with HTN at the Cora E. Braynon Family Health Center between 40 and 70. Barriers to non-adherence are a leading source of health problems and chronic illness management in HTN (CDC, 2020). According to Whelton (2017), self-care management also helps to reduce obstacles and injustice in high-stress or underprivileged populations. The following section presents a team learning to take control (TLC) approach that can offer bi-weekly sessions to improve patient blood pressure readings, sleeping patterns, pain control, communication, and eating habits (Still et al., 2018).