Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Andrea Jennings

Abstract

Hypertension is a major public health issue in the United States that affects approximately 70 million adults; the high blood pressure of nearly half is considered to be uncontrolled. Uncontrolled hypertension is especially true in the incarcerated population. Due to low health literacy on hypertension in the inmate population, there are recurrent hospital visits, an increase in the admission rate and an increased length of stay in hospitals, all of which may lead to an increase in the cost of healthcare. The purpose of this scholarly project was to develop an expertly reviewed, evidence-based, self-paced, computerized, educational module to promote health literacy on hypertension for inmates within a correctional institution. The module was developed using guidelines offered by the American Heart Association and the 8th National Joint Commission. The readability of the module was at a 5th grade level. The educational module was disseminated to 10 content experts in the field of cardiology and family practice, who work in the correctional institution health service department. The expert evaluated the educational module using a Likert-scale evaluation. An open- and close-ended questionnaire was use to evaluate the module's efficacy and its ability to promote health literacy on hypertension for inmates. Data from the questionnaire were coded according to the experts' response. The data revealed a median of 4.5 out of 5 for all categories which demonstrate the appropriateness of the educational module for inmates. The implications for social change was that inmates could improve their health outcomes by improving their health literacy on hypertension, with the potential to lower healthcare costs.

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