Empowering hypertensive patients in south africa to improve their disease management: A pharmacist-led intervention

Objective: Uncontrolled hypertension negatively impacts on mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led patient counseling and education model to empower hypertensive patients on chronic medication. Methods: This was an operational research project with a quasi-experimental design including an intervention group (55 patients) and a control group (31 patients) of chronic hypertensive patients. The data were collected with interview-administered questionnaires, and were analyzed using SAS® version 9.4. Pharmacist interventions included an educational diary on hypertension management and patient counseling. Findings: A 34.7% improvement was observed in patients' understanding of what normal blood pressure (BP) is in the intervention group compared to the control group (P 90%). Conclusion: A pharmacist-led patient counseling and education model can help improve patients' hypertension knowledge and BP control. These should increasingly become routine, aiming to improve chronic disease management.