Empowerment of hypertensive individuals and families in disease management: a community nursing intervention

Introduction Hypertension is a chronic disease with high national prevalence, being the main risk factor for cardiovascular brain disease. Thus, training for disease management is essential for disease control and eviction of complications. By determining the level of knowledge of the person and family about hypertension, it was possible to structure the intervention aimed at promoting autonomy for conscious decision-making, adopting healthy lifestyles and active participation in their health project. Objective Empower hypertensive people aged 45-65 years and family, enrolled in a Family Healthcare Unit in the intervention area of the Health Centre’s Cluster Almada/Seixal. Methods The analytical cross-sectional observational study was based on the methodology of Health Planning, underpinned by the theoretical framework of Dorothea Orem's Nursing Self-Care Model. A questionnaire was designed and applied to conduct the Situation Diagnosis for the sociodemographic characterization of the sample and to identify the behaviors for disease management. The sample was composed using the purposive sampling technique. A favorable opinion was previously obtained from the Ethics Committee for Health of the Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tejo Valley (ARSLVT) under reference - 5043/CES/INV2022. Results The situation diagnosis revealed a deficit of knowledge about the disease and its management, as well as a deficit of self-care, which compromises the quality of life of the participants. With the prioritization of the problems, health education was selected as a strategy. After the community intervention, 70% of the participants assess and record daily BP values; 100% of them correctly identify risk behaviors for worsening hypertension; 63% of the participants practice regular physical activity; 87% of the participants report having reduced the daily intake of salt; and, 100% of family members identified two areas in which their family member needs more support, being the most frequent, encouragement for physical activity and restriction/substitution of salt in food. Conclusion This project was an important contribution to the empowerment of the hypertensive person and family to manage the disease, since after its completion there was an increase in knowledge of the participants, as well as behavioral changes associated with healthy lifestyles.