Top Online Support Groups and Apps for Patient Education on Hypertension

Top Online Support Groups and Apps for Patient Education on Hypertension

Hypertension, commonly referred to as high blood pressure (HBP), is among the most common and prevalent chronic conditions globally and in the United States. An estimated 1.39 billion adults worldwide have hypertension (Mills et al., 2020), and one in every two American adults aged above 20 years has high blood pressure (Chobufo et al., 2020). Besides the high prevalence rates, high blood pressure is also a risk factor for various complications such as stroke, heart attack, heart and vascular complications, heart failure, and additional costs for healthcare (Meredith et al., 2020). This makes it a major and active health crisis. Effective management of HBP requires adopting multiple approaches to manage and treat with a major focus on nutritional, lifestyle, behavioral, and medication strategies (Meredith et al., 2020). Although individual efforts are crucial in HBP management, patient and family education is essential for sustainable management. Such support is available and accessible via online support groups, websites, and mobile applications. This article analyses discusses, and recommends the American Heart Association (AHA) website, the High Blood Pressure Support Group on the DailyStrength.org website, and the Omron Connect mobile app for patient education related to hypertension management.

The American Heart Association (AHA) Website

URL: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure

The American Heart Association website is a major resource for people living with or who have family members with heart disease, including high blood pressure. The website is recommended for patient education for hypertension based on an evaluation of the resource. The evaluation is based on a number of critical components of the website.

The first components for evaluation are the accessibility and usability of the website. The American Heart Association (AHA) website is designed in line with the AHA’s mission of relentlessly forcing for a world of longer, healthier lives and advancing health and hope for all, everywhere. It is easy to access using any device with access to the internet and supports a majority of internet browsers. It has a user-friendly interface. This user-friendliness makes it easy to navigate and access needed information. It has most of its key sections accessible from the homepage. It also provides search options, allowing a patient or any user to search for content or a section they would like to access. It also has sections for professionals and the general population, allowing for tailored language and content. Additionally, most of the content is accessible for free to all users and without the need to make any special registrations.

The second critical component used to evaluate the AHA website is the quality of the information available on the website. The AHA, through its website, provides high-quality and credible information that patients and their caregivers can utilize to educate themselves about high blood pressure. The AHA publishes information that is backed by research evidence, such as its care guidelines for professionals and other educational information on the management of HBP. The quality of the content component for evaluation also considers how objective, relevant, and accurate the information provided is. Noting that AHA only publishes evidence-based information on its website, it can be concluded that the information and content provided are impartial, unbiased, and correct. There is also a dedicated section for high blood pressure with evidence-based information on the condition, practice guidelines, and management strategies, making the information on the website relevant to hypertension patients.

A third component is the AHA’s website support for users. The information provided on the website is available in multiple languages, serving the wider U.S. lingual and cultural diversity. It also provides guidance on how to navigate the website and how to use the information available. The AHA’s website also provides a community for users to connect with through linking various community and support groups. Therefore, it has a high engagement from the community.

Benefits of the AHA Websites and Needed Improvements

From a provider’s perspective, the benefit of utilizing the AHA website for patient education is that the professional care provider will have access to evidence-based guidelines that can help them provide the best HBP patient care. As the information is evidence-based and backed by relevant and current data and evidence, a provider is confident utilizing such information, including care guidelines for hypertension management, and also when referring patients and their families. The information is also easily accessible and understandable for both professionals and the general population. And most important, a major benefit of the website is that it allows free access to comprehensive educational materials on HBP for all patients and practitioners.

However, although the website is well-designed, some improvements would include having chat tools for the community and users. Such chat tools can improve community engagement and also access to support.

AHA’s Website Support for Diverse and Hard-to-Reach Populations

The information available on the AHA website supports a diverse and hard-to-reach population by providing it with multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Chinese, among other major languages used in the U.S. It is also accessible remotely through internet-enabled devices with browser capabilities.

High Blood Pressure Support Group

URL: https://www.dailystrength.org/group/high-blood-pressure

The high blood pressure support group available on the Daily Strength website provides a platform where members can ask and answer questions contributing to the discussion on HBP. The critical components for evaluation include response rate, quality of information, accessibility, and number of members.  The group has a high response rate based on the number of posts and replies to the posts. It currently has 1258 possible, each with multiple replies and discussion threads. The group has some quality information provided in the responses. Each post has replies which clearly address the question of the question posted. The replies are also of high quality, as some members are professionals in the field of heart disease.

The High Blood Pressure Support Group is also easy to access as the discussion platform is available via the DailyStrength.org’s website, making it accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. The group has a large membership with a total of 723 members.

Benefits of the High Blood Pressure Support Group and Needed Improvements

From a professional perspective, although the group usually provides replies that are mostly personal anecdotes and some professional perspectives, it creates a wider open platform for opinion discussions on HBP. Therefore, it can help patients ask questions, get peer responses, and contribute to discussions.

There are some improvements that the site needs that may improve the discussions. For instance, having professionals specifically contributing to the discussions and providing links to evidence-based resources can improve the quality and experiences for quality patient education.

High Blood Pressure Support Group’s Support for Diverse and Hard-to-Reach Populations

The group utilizes DailyStrength.org’s website, making it accessible. This supports remote access even to populations in hard-to-reach regions, provided they have an internet connection and an internet-capable device. However, it has limited support for diverse populations as it is an open platform without professional or structured moderation, and most discussions are held in English.

Omron Connect Mobile App

URL: https://www.omronconnect.com/general/

The Omron Connect Mobile App is a mobile blood pressure monitoring application. It was evaluated based on various components such as usability, app usability, reliability, relevance in HBP management, and reputation of the parent organization. The app is easy to use based on its simple, user-friendly interface. The UI using graphics makes navigation simple. It also connects with various health-monitoring including blood pressure monitoring devices.

The Omron Connect App is a part of the Omron ecosystem of health-monitoring devices. The parent organization has a reputation for developing devices and technologies for monitoring weight, body fat, and heart rate, among other health indicators. This makes it efficient and reliable. It is also specifically designed for monitoring blood pressure. It has features for tracking blood pressure, making it relevant to patients with HBP.

Omron Connect Mobile App Benefits and Improvements

The app works on both Android and iOS platforms, making it available to many users. It also supports the creation of blood pressure charts for reference. However, it needs some improvements, such as allowing connections with devices outside of the Omron ecosystem and having a tool dedicated to community connections and conversations.

Omron Connect Mobile App Support for Diverse and Hard-to-Reach Populations

The App is an example of mHealth technologies that allow access and usage in mobile smartphones even in remote regions. It also has a dedicated website for user support. The App can also be used in various languages and supports customization to individual preferences, hence serving the needs of a diverse population.

Conclusion

HBP is a chronic condition that requires collective community efforts to manage. Resources such as the AHA website, the High Blood Pressure Support Group on DailyStrength, and the Omron Connect mobile app support patient education. These resources are highly accessible and usable and, due to their online presence, support a diverse and hard-to-reach population. Hence, they are critical to the effective management of HBP.

References

Chobufo, M. D., Gayam, V., Soluny, J., Rahman, E. U., Enoru, S., Foryoung, J. B., Agbor, V. N., Dufresne, A., & Nfor, T. (2020). Prevalence and control rates of hypertension in the USA: 2017–2018. International Journal of Cardiology Hypertension, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJCHY.2020.100044

Meredith, A. H., Schmelz, A. N., Dawkins, E., & Carter, A. (2020). Group education program for hypertension control. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 22(11), 2146. https://doi.org/10.1111/JCH.14022

Mills, K. T., Stefanescu, A., & He, J. (2020). The global epidemiology of hypertension. Nature Reviews. Nephrology, 16(4), 223. https://doi.org/10.1038/S41581-019-0244-2

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Select a disease or condition and research online support groups and websites or mobile applications you would recommend for patient education. As a guide for assessing the content, refer to the USA.gov site:

Top Online Support Groups and Apps for Patient Education on Hypertension

https://ods.od.nih.gov/HealthInformation/How_To_Evaluate_Health_Information_on_the_Internet_Questions_and_Answers.aspxLinks to an external site.

In a 4 not more than 6 page, APA formatted paper:

Choose 3 sites or applications (one must be a support group) and explain what the critical components are that you used to evaluate them.
Explain from a provider perspective the benefits of each site and also what, if any, improvements are needed.
How do these sites or applications support diverse and hard-to-reach populations?
The finished paper should be no more than 6 pages (excluding title, Abstract, and reference pages), include peer-reviewed references, and follow all 7th edition APA Professional Paper formatting.