Fighting HBP on the Home Front

close up of hands checking someone's blood pressure

Pierce County residents have higher rates of high blood pressure, or hypertension, than Washington state as a whole. But tackling the problem became even more difficult in the last few years when existing barriers to care were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to public safety measures, many pharmacies and fire stations paused free, in-person blood pressure screenings, disrupting many people’s access to care. These screenings are vital because high blood pressure usually has no symptoms. And even patients with an established care team have been apprehensive to seek care during the pandemic.

When left unmanaged, high blood pressure greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

To help overcome such challenges and address gaps in hypertension care, the American Heart Association collaborated with Community Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Pierce County with five clinic locations, to develop a self-monitoring blood pressure program that equips patients to track their blood pressure at home.

Through the self-monitoring program, over 30,000 Community Health Care patients in the Tacoma area have access to tools, resources and education to manage their hypertension and prevent life-threatening complications through consistent monitoring and healthy lifestyle changes.

“It’s our hope that providing at-home BP cuffs will reduce barriers to care for our patients and help them monitor and ultimately get control of their chronic condition,” said Jenna Burrell, quality improvement coordinator at Community Health Care.

The AHA team provided automated blood pressure devices and supplied Community Health Care with education resources for their provider team, back-office staff and managers to develop a comprehensive system to support patients. Also, to educate and guide participating patients, AHA provided translated resources in four languages on how to measure accurately, understand blood pressure readings and take action to keep their numbers in a healthy range.