Friday, July 11, 2003

This presentation is part of : Self Care in Chronic Illness

Process Evaluation of the Self-Help Intervention Program for Korean-American Elderly with Hypertension

Hyun Jeong Park, MPH, Graduate Student1, Hae-Ra Han, RN, PhD, Faculty1, Gina M. Pistulka, RN, MSN/MPH, PreDoctoral Fellow2, Wolmi Han, MD, PhD, Post-Doctoral Fellow3, and Miyong T. Kim, RN, PhD, associate professor1. (1) School of Nursing, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA, (2) Center for Nursing Research, School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA, (3) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Learning Objective #1: Identify the factors that affect the reception of the intervention program
Learning Objective #2: Describe the effect of the Hypertension Self-Help Intervention Program

Objectives: To describe findings of process evaluation of an innovative self-help intervention program (SHIP) for Korean American elderly (KAE) with hypertension.

Design: Quasi-experimental study design.

Sample, Setting, Years: A total of 33 KAE with hypertension were enrolled in this on-going self-help program. The sample included 18 males and 15 females ages 62 to 83. Participants were divided into three groups of 5, 10, and 18 by the location of residence and convenience. Each group has met at three community-outreach locations since September 2002.

Intervention and Variables: The SHIP, conducted by bilingual registered nurses, includes three components: 1) six-weeks of two-hour weekly sessions of psychobehavioral education, 2) home blood pressure (BP) monitoring, and 3) monthly support group meetings. Process outcome variables include participant attendance, motivation, knowledge about hypertension care, electronic BP transmission, and participant satisfaction.

Methods: A systematic process evaluation will be conducted using both qualitative and quantitative data.

Findings: Preliminary analysis shows an improved interest in participants’ management of hypertension. Reception of the intervention, however, seems to vary among three sites. The library group, a more mobile, affluent, and younger group comparatively, has been observed to have greater interpersonal, greater facility in transmitting BP measures as instructed, and has expressed interest in management of other chronic diseases. No participants have dropped out or missed classes.

Conclusion: Findings show that culturally sensitive health promotion programs such as the SHIP are well received by the Korean American community but suggest vast differences in the level of reception of treatment depending on mobility, income, or age of participants. Findings will be presented in greater detail upon completion of the program.

Implication: Even among a group of homogenous ethnic minority participants (e.g., Koreans) more individualized hypertension care may need to be delivered to appropriately promote self-help in the population.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003