Adding story-centered care to standard lifestyle intervention for people with Stage 1 hypertension

Liehr, Patricia; Meininger, Janet C.; Vogler, Robert; Chan, Wenyaw; Frazier, Lorraine; Smalling, Sharon; Fuentes, Francisco

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2004.12.001

« Previous Next »Applied Nursing Research
Volume 19, Issue 1 , Pages 16-21, February 2006

Adding story-centered care to standard lifestyle intervention for people with Stage 1 hypertension

Patricia Liehr, PhD, RN
- Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 561 995 6758.
Janet C. Meininger, PhD, RN, FAAN
- School of Nursing, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 500 2124.
Robert Vogler, DSN, RN
- College of Nursing, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 797 7000.
Wenyaw Chan, PhD
- School of Public Health, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 500 9321.
Lorraine Frazier, DSN, RN-C
- School of Nursing, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 500 2114.
Sharon Smalling, MPH, RD, LD
- Memorial Hermann Wellness Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 704 5800.
Francisco Fuentes, MD
- School of Medicine, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Tel.: +1 713 500 6579.

Received 11 January 2004; received in revised form 18 November 2004; accepted 23 December 2004.

Abstract

This study examined the blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect of adding story-centered care (i.e., carefully attending to another's narrative) to standard lifestyle intervention (i.e., exercise training and nutrition counseling) for people with Stage 1 hypertension. The subjects (N = 24), who were university and hospital employees, were unmedicated and received standard lifestyle intervention; half were randomly assigned to story-centered care. Their 24-hour BP was measured four times at 8-week intervals, twice before and twice after the intervention. Subjects who received story-centered care had greater decreases (p < .05) in awake systolic BP over the 6-month study period. Neither systolic nor diastolic sleep BP was significantly affected. Story-centered care showed promise for contributing to the BP-lowering effect of lifestyle intervention. Approaches for integrating story-centered care into the treatment of people with hypertension are challenging but warrant further attention.