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The following is a summary of “Patient and Community Health Worker (CHW) Perspectives on a CHW-delivered Nutrition Intervention for Low-Income Adults with Hypertension: A Qualitative Study,” published in the October 2024 issue of the Primary Care by Gu et al.
Adults experiencing food insecurity (FI) often face barriers to managing hypertension, including difficulties adhering to recommended diets. Despite this, few community health worker (CHW) interventions focus on diet to improve blood pressure.
For this qualitative study, researchers gathered insights from both patients and CHWs about healthy eating and a potential CHW-led nutrition intervention for adults with hypertension. It involved semi-structured interviews with 25 patients and 5 CHWs from five health centers in the Boston area between July and September 2023. Participants were part of a hypertension health coaching program, and the interviews were analyzed using the Framework Method.
Three key themes emerged. First, patients had varying levels of knowledge about dietary recommendations for managing hypertension and lacked confidence in reading nutrition labels. Second, cultural factors significantly influence perceptions of healthy foods. Lastly, common barriers to healthy eating included the cost of food, limited cooking skills or supplies, and competing life demands. Both patients and CHWs favored simple, easy-to-understand nutrition education materials, such as traffic light systems for food ranking and ideas for budget-friendly meals. Opinions were mixed on the effectiveness of CHW-accompanied supermarket visits.
Investigators concluded that cultural influences, knowledge gaps, and financial constraints were key factors affecting dietary habits among low-income adults with hypertension and FI. A CHW-delivered nutrition intervention should focus on providing simplified nutrition education, strategies for affordable healthy eating, and connections to community-based food resources.
Source: doi.org/10.1177/21501319241285855