A Quality Improvement Project on the Evaluation of Teach-Back Training
Hypertension is one of the most frequent yet manageable chronic disorders, and medication adherence is critical in treating uncontrolled hypertension. This quality improvement project aimed to determine the efficacy of the teach-back method in improving anti-hypertension medication adherence in hypertensive older adults aged 65 to 75. Before the intervention, health literacy scores were obtained using the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine. Teach-back intervention sessions were used to summarize blood pressure values and HB-MAS scores. After the intervention, changes in HB-MAS scores and blood pressure measures were calculated (post – pre) and descriptively characterized (Hall-McArthur, 2018). It depicted medication adherence with a mean (SD) difference of -1.4 (2.65) on the HB-MAS scale, reflecting an 11 percent decline in the mean HB-MAS score from baseline (p-value = 0.0001).
Hypertension Knowledge
The study’s main goal was to assess patients’ knowledge of hypertension, heart-healthy lifestyle choices, and medication adherence. An 11-item questionnaire was given to 385 hypertensive adults in Baltimore, Maryland, to assess their hypertension knowledge, dietary restrictions, physical activity, and medication. Untreated hypertension can cause kidney disease, but only 2/3 of patients knew this, despite 86% awareness of their condition. Patients with low hypertension knowledge (p = 0.085) were less likely to reduce salt and calorie intake to lose weight (Abu et al., 2018). Most patients knew they had hypertension, but few knew it could lead to kidney disease if left untreated. There was a link between hypertension awareness and healthy lifestyle choices. Hypertension knowledge may encourage patients to adopt healthy lifestyle habits to control their blood pressure.
Effectiveness of Educational Interventions
This study aimed to see how a pharmacist’s interventions affected patients’ perceptions of high blood pressure and comprehension of the illness, involving a sample size of 150. Patients with high levels of adherence were instructed; nonetheless, this had a detrimental influence on counseling. Patients with moderate adherence received a teach-decrease-repeat technique. Patients with low adherence were provided audiovisual aids, teach-decrease-repeat affected person counseling, and an affected-person information brochure. 11.3 percent of the population was consistent, showing a considerable decrease in adherence. Only 34% of those polled reported strong adherence, while 54% had poor adherence. Fifty-four patients were moderately adherent after the follow-up (Harshitha et al., 2021). Pharmacist interaction had a substantial and discernible impact on raising public knowledge of the disease and improving it through enhancing medication adherence.
References
Abu, H., Aboumatar, H., Carson, K. A., Goldberg, R., & Cooper, L. A. (2018). Hypertension knowledge, heart healthy lifestyle practices and medication adherence among adults with hypertension.European Journal for Person-Centered Healthcare, 6(1), 108-114. Web.
Hall-McArthur, C. (2018). A quality improvement project: Evaluation of teach-back training on medication adherence in hypertensive older veterans. Web.
Harshitha, J., Satish, S., & Shabaraya, A. R. (2021). Effectiveness of educational interventions to improve medication adherence among hypertensive patients.International Journal of Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Topics, 2(9), 92–95. Web.