RESUMO
Understanding health beliefs is important to facilitate health promotion and disease prevention as they influence health behaviors, outcomes, and disease management. Given the rise of hypertension-related diseases in the Dominican Republic, the purpose of our study was to identify hypertension-related health beliefs of Dominicans in order to inform the development of culturally appropriate interventions for hypertension prevention, care, and treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Dominicans, 15 of whom were receiving treatment for hypertension. Operating within the interpretative paradigmatic framework, we conducted thematic analyses of interview data to identify hypertension-related health beliefs and practices. Iterative data analysis revealed the following themes: 1) Negative emotions are a primary cause of hypertension, 2) Medication is the best treatment but adherence is challenging, 3) Systemic barriers impede treatment access, 4) Hypertension negatively impacts mental and physical well-being, and 5) Lifestyle changes, relaxation, and social support help manage hypertension. Data gathered from member checking validated these findings. This study enhances understanding of the beliefs and experiences of Dominicans and emphasize the importance of implementing culturally competent health programming and care.
Assuntos
Cultura , Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde/fisiologia , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Promoção da Saúde/métodos , Inquéritos Epidemiológicos/métodos , Hipertensão/prevenção & controle , Hipertensão/fisiopatologia , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , República Dominicana , Emoções/fisiologia , Feminino , Inquéritos Epidemiológicos/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Hipertensão/psicologia , Entrevistas como Assunto/métodos , Entrevistas como Assunto/estatística & dados numéricos , Estilo de Vida , Masculino , Adesão à Medicação/estatística & dados numéricos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Apoio SocialRESUMO
Haiti's high maternal and infant mortality rates evidence an urgent need for implementation of evidence-based strategies. A potential cost-effective strategy to mitigate high maternal and infant mortality rates is group prenatal care, an innovative model that combines antenatal clinical assessment with pregnancy education. Despite research demonstrating the effectiveness of this model in high-resource settings, less is known about the challenges of implementing it in low-resource settings. The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations for overcoming challenges of implementing group prenatal care in low-resources communities globally. Challenges addressed include language, literacy, space, cultural appropriateness of intervention content, and sociopolitical climate. Using examples from work conducted in Haiti, this information can be used to assist practitioners and researchers with overcoming challenges of implementing models of group care in international low-resource communities.