The lived experiences of patients who are diagnosed with hypertension in the Oshana region in northern Namibia
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Date
2012
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Abstract
The effects of hypertension are cumulative with regard to its negative influence on
the organ system in the body. Equipped with the right knowledge, a person can
either prevent or slow down these cumulative effects or adapt to the changing life
styles. An afflicted person can adapt to his/her condition and make certain life style
changes which must be maintained permanently. A person’s success in adhering to
the necessary adjustments will depend to a certain extent on how he or she
experiences the life style changes as well as the effects of medicines which are
prescribed. It is not readily apparent how well patients are being prepared and
educated to counteract hypertension and how to slow down its cumulative effects.
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of
patients diagnosed with hypertension in the Oshana Region in Northern Namibia
with the aim of developing guidelines on how to make the necessary life style
changes which would ameliorate their condition. The research design in this study was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature. The population consisted of participants who were treated for hypertension and a purposive sampling method was utilized. A total number of ten participants were interviewed and the data collection ended only when data saturation was obtained. The findings were presented in three main categories and sub-categories. The first main category is “experiencing varying degrees of comprehension of the disease process”. This main category does not have any subcategory.
The second main category is “positive and negative experiences
regarding treatment”. The two sub-categories of this main category are
“experiences of beneficial effects of medicine” and “experiences of negative effects
of medicines”. The third main category is “inadequate information sharing by
health workers” with its two sub-categories namely, “lack of information regarding
possible sexual dysfunction” and “lack of information regarding the type of foods
to eat or types of drinks to consume”. The findings through the three main
categories and sub-categories indicated that participants received inadequate
information from health care workers regarding the disease process as well as types of effects medicines could have on the body. Participants also had inadequate social support systems and they had negative experiences with regard to treatment. It was concluded that these participants were not prepared by health care workers how to cope with this chronic illness, and that their medicine dosages and scheduling might not be totally individualized.
Description
Submitted in accordance with requirements for the Degree of Masters in Nursing Science.
Keywords
Lived experiences, Hypertension, Person, Health, Environment/ Context