Doctoral project: Improved blood pressure control through self-care
The aim of the project is to translate, culturally adapt and evaluate the PROM-instrument Self-Care of Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI) into a Swedish context.
Project information
Titel
Improved blood pressure control through self-care - a study of the Self-Care of Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI)
Doctoral student
Maria Modig
Supervisor
Kristofer Årestedt
Assistant supervisors
Cecilia Fagerström, Jeanette Melin
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, Region Kalmar
Financier
Region Kalmar, FORSS
Timetable
1 september 2023- 31 december 2028
Subject
Health Sciences (Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
Research group
The Health Outcome Measurements research group (HOMe)
More about the project
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a serious noncommunicative disease defined by a consistent high pressure in the blood vessels when the blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg or higher. Signs of high blood pressure can include headache, blurred vision, nausea and chest pain. The disease can be without symptoms and high blood pressure is often called the "silent killer" due to being the biggest contributor to heart, brain and kidney diseases. Risk factors to suffer from hypertension is heredity, high age, co-existing diseases, unhealthy diet and inactive lifestyle, tobacco and alcohol consumption and obesity.
Since the 1990s, the disease has doubled worldwide and is now one of the biggest public diseases of our time. Incorrectly treated/undetected hypertension is associated with reduced health-related quality of life. The negative effects due to hypertension increase in terms of the individual, where years of life are lost through heart and kidney diseases, but also in terms of costs in healthcare.
Previous research shows that self-care and adherence to treatment are key factors in reaching treatment goals for hypertension. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) consists of standardized questionnaires where various health measures are assessed directly by the individual itself. Perceptions/experiences about physical, psychological, and social functioning, experience of illness/symptoms and HRQOL are valued. These measures can be used to identify problems, track changes, and evaluate interventions, but also to improve communication between patient and caregiver. Based on the person's self-assessment of their health, it can create a deeper understanding of the symptoms as well as improve person-centred care and highlight the person's personal responsibility, which are important prerequisites for good adherence to treatment and self-care.
The Self-Care Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI) is a PROM measure which means that the person can fill in a questionnaire and assess their health, level of self-care, adherence to treatment and experience of illness. By using SC-HI, the patient is involved and becomes a co-creator in the care. SC-HI provides a person-centered assessment, which can lead to increased and improved adherence to medication and self-care efforts, identify problems, evaluate treatment and can contribute to improved communication between caregiver and patient.
SH-HI assesses factors such as self-care and adherence to treatment, which are two key factors for people with hypertension to be able to control their blood pressure. There is currently no Swedish validated person-centered self-assessment instrument for hypertension and my thesis therefore aims to translate and validate the SC-HI to Swedish context so that it can be used in Swedish healthcare and for home monitoring, which creates possibilities for improved care for patients with hypertension.
The thesis can contribute knowledge about how a PROM such as SC-HI can be used both for health promotion purposes and in treatment. Using SC-HI in healthcare could generate new working methods and routines that benefits and improves treatment goals, but also could improve person-centered care for people with hypertension.
The thesis also aims to investigate self-care in adults with hypertension in relation to demographic, socioeconomic, medical, psychological and personal factors, as well as to explore the importance of self-care in order to achieve good adherence to treatment and improved health status.
The thesis work is a complementary part of a development project in south-eastern Sweden through FORSS in which Region Kalmar, Region Jönköping, Region Östergötland, Region Kronoberg, Linköping University, Jönköping University and Linnaeus University participate. In the larger development project, the overall goal is to increase the knowledge of PROM in self-monitoring in order to be able to improve the application in clinical operations, development, research and innovation and contribute with development in the transition to close care.
The doctoral project is part of the research conducted within the research group The Health Outcome Measurements research group (HOMe) (webpage in Swedish)