Teaching Experience: Hypertension - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

Hypertension is a killer that can lead to health complications like stoke, increased risk of heart diseases, and in the worst-case scenario, death (Hales et al., 2017). Although blood pressure varies significantly based on daily activities, consistently higher levels result in a diagnosis of hypertension. Hypertension exposes an individual to health risks such as stroke, heart disease, and heart attack. Many people are unaware of having high blood pressure because it has no cautionary signs and symptoms (Hales et al., 2017). The prevention and treatment of hypertension provide an effective and well-proven means to minimize cardiovascular disease risk (Hales et al., 2017). Therefore, it is crucial to sensitize society on its primary prevention and general health promotion. Consequently, health education can result in modifications of lifestyle to improve effective hypertension control in the community (Shine, 2017).

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Summary of the Teaching Plan

The national statistics of 1 in 3 United States adults having high blood pressure and the at-risk group male construction workers are significantly attributed to a lack of knowledge of the disease and lifestyle (Hales et al., 2017). I found the topic more appropriate because hypertension is claiming of the lives of so many people posing a health risk. Unhealthy food choices, poor exercise habits, and chronic conditions are some of the causes high blood pressure. In Prince William County in Virginia, there is a large population of African Americans and Hispanics at higher risk of hypertension, according to the national statistics.

The teaching work plan focused on informing the men ranging between 25 to 60 years old construction workers on the risks of hypertension, causes, feeding habits, preventions, and routine physical exercises (Shine, 2017). Similarly, the program emphasizes exposing the risk associated with uncontrolled high blood pressure, such as stroke and cardiovascular diseases. Features that indicated the readiness to learn for these hypertension at-risk men were their interest expression and verbalizing the essence of health care and prevention of hypertension complications. There were printed materials, pictures of the arteries and hypertensive people, PowerPoint slides for illustration, and fresh fruits and bottled water, for the audience's motivation during the teaching session. The printouts were distributed to the audience before the beginning to use available information about hypertension.

The one-hour teaching session was subdivided into three sections; the interactive teaching session, question and answer session, and the jeopardy game session, all significant for attaining the objectives. These objectives guided my entire teaching session; the participants' ability to successfully define hypertension, the ability to identify normal blood pressure, verbalize healthy habits, and the ability to identify free blood pressure check sites. I started the presentation with some stretches to ensure that everyone was awake and engaged the audience with a pre-knowledge test on hypertension by asking them the basic information they knew about hypertension. Some participants were familiar with high blood pressure, while others had no idea. I actively listened to the questions and answers session throughout the teaching process, thereby providing incentives such as fresh fruits and bottled water to the active participants. I concluded with the jeopardy game to test post knowledge. Both the verbal and nonverbal communication techniques were employed for effective communication.

Community teaching plan for hypertension prevention and general health promotion utilized the behaviorism theory. According to this theory, an individual's behavior is more likely to reoccur based on the assistances or consequences that follow, such as rewards and penalty (Shine, 2017). It further suggests that one can learn from observation and retain the information. Therefore, printed materials were handed over to the workers who observed and returned the demonstration. Subsequently, questions were asked to assess their understanding of the written materials; those who responded correctly were given fruits or a bottle of water, but those who did not answer correctly were never rewarded.

The Epidemiological Rationale for Hypertension

Approximately one billion people have hypertension globally, with around two-thirds living in developing countries (Bloch, 2016). In 2015, about 1 in 5 women and 1 in 4 men had hypertension, but only 1 in 5 individuals had the problem under control. Since hypertension is one of the major causes of early deaths worldwide, the international target for non-communicable diseases is to lessen hypertension's incidences by 25 percent by 2025 (Bloch, 2016).

In the United States today, hypertension affects about 1 in 3 or about 75% of adults (Hales et al., 2017). In 2017, the United States experienced nearly a million deaths related directly or indirectly to hypertension, translating to around 1,300 deaths a day (Hales et al., 2017). Forty-five percent of United States adults have high blood pressure, described as diastolic blood pressure or systolic blood pressure or undertaking medication (Hales et al., 2017). Surprisingly, only 24 percent of the affected have their condition under control, and 45 percent of the United States adults with uncontrolled hypertension and not prescribed any medication (Morettiet al., 2017).

Over 12 years from 2003, hypertension has cost the United States an average of $131 billion annually (Shine, 2017). Although unmanaged hypertension is common, certain groups of individuals are highly likely to regulate blood pressure than others. The occurrence of high blood pressure conditions in the United States men is four percent higher than that for women (Morettiet al., 2017). The racial variations in hypertension-related disease results have been associated with mortality morbidity hazards compared with their white colleagues. African Americans, Hispanics are at a higher risk of becoming hypertensive than Caucasian Americans. Precisely, about 54 percent of non-Hispanic black adults are affected by high blood pressure, 36 percent Hispanic adults, 39 percent non-Hispanic Asian, and 46 percent of non-Hispanic white adults (Bloch, 2016). In Prince William County in Virginia, there is a large population of African Americans and Hispanics due to a lack of understanding regarding healthy blood pressure and what is classified as hypertension.

Evaluation of Teaching Experience on Hypertension

The teaching experience evaluation was conducted in two stages, individual and small groups, which were further subdivided into two sub-sections, the questions and answers section, and the jeopardy game session. In the first phase, most participants were capable of giving the correct definition of hypertension and verbalize the normal blood pressure as 120/80mmHm (Fryar et al., 2017). They were also able to list healthy habits as walking at least 130 minutes a week, avoiding high sodium and fatty foods, decreasing soda consumption while increasing water intake, and feeding on vegetables, grains, and fruits (Fryar et al., 2017). Most importantly, they could identify and mention the free screening blood pressure sites as CVS and Walmart.

The end of the learning session marked the beginning of the second stage, where the attendees were divided into small groups. In their groups, they practically took the measure of blood pressure of the other participants, a clear indication of the effectiveness of demonstrations. Jeopardy game also took place at this stage; the group questions were asked in turns by a group and answered by the other, and the winning team awarded. Since my objectives were fully achieved, I can attest that the group I met became adequately knowledgeable about hypertension and will be representatives to assist others within the community.

Community Response to Teaching

The session was successful, and the participants had shown a positive response to the presentation on high blood pressure. Therefore, attendees complimented the teacher on the overall experience as well as the PowerPoint presentation. The performance goals were met with participants feeling contented for being provided with adequate information in a professional manner. They also acknowledged the seriousness of hypertension to the affected and shared similar feelings regarding who could have benefited most, the hypertensive.

At the end of the presentation, participants were allowed to provide additional feedback. They actively discussed the significance of involving the whole community in such a session, revealing their enthusiasm about the topic and the willingness to share with the family members and neighbors.

Areas of Strengths and Areas of Improvement

There were several strengths noted during this community-based health teaching. The therapeutic communication, the use of stretches, at the beginning of the presentation, was unique to many attendees and captured their attention, thus remaining active for a longer time. The communication between the participants and I was open, well flowed, and honest. The PowerPoint presentation was visually appealing, simple, concise, and very informative. Similarly, the demonstration using the pictures showing the arteries and actively participating in taking their blood pressure instilled the practical knowledge. Everyone liked the form of motivation, fresh fruits, and bottled water, which enhanced their attentiveness and involvement. Finally, the use of songs committed into their memories the healthy and unhealthy foodstuffs (Shine, 2017).

However, there were some fewer areas of weaknesses that attracted my attention. Being an area inhabited with a huge Hispanic community, some participants could not understand the English language posing a communication barrier. For effective teaching, there was a necessity for English and Spanish speakers or having someone translating, and both the slides and printed materials are in both languages. Secondly, was the difference in learning pace where some were first-learners while others slow-learners. Although the slides were simple, concise, and clear, the one-hour presentation was still not enough for the slow-learners' comprehension. Even though I anticipated a lack of willingness during the proposal, all were willing to take part.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the teaching achieved reasonable success in raising awareness of hypertension prevention and health promotion. Hypertension is a preventable and treatable disease that causes disability, heart attack, heart failure, and deteriorates (Fryar et al., 2017). Identifying the community's understanding of this disease is important because even though free blood pressure screening sites like CVS and Walmart are available, if the community members are unaware, they may not use them. Therefore, it is crucial to sensitize society on its primary prevention and general health promotion. Consequently, health education can result in modifications of lifestyle to improve effective hypertension control in the community.

References

Bloch, M. (2016). Worldwide prevalence of hypertension exceeds 1.3 billion. Journal of the American Society of Hypertension, 10(10), 753-754.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27660007/

Fryar, C., Ostchega, Y., Hales, C., Zhang, G., & Kruszon-Moran, D. (2017). Hypertension prevalence and control among adults: United States, 2015-2016.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29155682/

Hales, C., Carroll, M., Simon, P., Kuo, T., & Ogden, C. (2017). Hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control among adults aged≥ 18 years—Los Angeles county, 1999–2006 and 2007–2014. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 66.