Health Education. Prevention of High Blood Pressure, Essay Example

In the past, high blood pressure (also called hypertension) is associated with the older population. However, with the advent of sedentary lifestyle and the fast food market, adolescents are becoming more at risk in acquiring the disease at their young age. Several studies have proven that high blood pressure among teenagers is on the rise today. Teenagers may also delay seeking treatment as they may not perceive this as a serious condition. Furthermore, economic standing and the financial capacity of families could also hinder health seeking behaviors. A study even found out that African-Americans typically delay to seek consultations as they do not possess any form of health insurance and have no capacity to pay for these. Immigrants are also another population group that would delay treatment as they experience communication difficulties. Particularly, they may even believe healers or folk medicine rather than consult a doctor or health care professionals.

As such, programs that are directed towards proper management of hypertension have been proven to be very effective in controlling the number of patients suffering from Hypertension. Nurses, especially, also play an important role as they deliver health education and discharge planning as proven in various clinical studies, research and practice.

Objectives:

1. To be able to demonstrate beginning skill levels in interviewing, communicating, exploring, identifying client strengths, assessing data, specifying problems and goals, and planning basic interventions with a variety of diverse populations.
2. To apply knowledge of physical and psycho-social variables that affects the development and behavior of individuals, particularly during the collection of data, assessment of needs and program implementation.
3. To utilize critical thinking within the teaching session and apply theories in the assessment and evaluation phase.

Client objectives:

At the end of the teaching session, the students will:

1. Demonstrate understanding of basic concepts in relation to hypertension
2. Acquire additional knowledge on disease prevention and control
3. Learn the importance of diet, nutrition and physical exercise in relation to the disease

Methodology:

To facilitate learning, visual aids and materials were utilized during the teaching session. These include posters and handouts on the topic. In addition, teaching was enhanced with the use of a power point presentation. It is said that learning from experience is more meaningful compared to learning within the walls of the classroom (Quinn, 2000) so practical demonstrations were also incorporated in the teaching session.

Evaluation:

To evaluate the learning gained by the students, review questions were asked pertaining to the topic. I can say that the learners demonstrated good understanding of the subject as they were able to formulate questions that require elaboration on a particular topic area and were able to answer review questions of the topic presented.

References:

Quinn, F. (2000) Principles and Practice of Nurse Education.4^th edition. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes.

Stanhope M and Lancaster J (2000). Community and public health nursing. 5^th edition Mosby, St. Louis