Effects of health belief model in promoting self-care behaviors among hypertensive older adults

BACKGROUND: Aging has the fastest growth rate in age groups. With age, the prevalence of a variety of chronic diseases also increases. Among chronic diseases, hypertension is one of the most important diseases among older adults and self-care is one of the effective approaches to control it. The aim of the present study was to apply the health belief model (HBM) in promoting self-care in hypertensive older adults to help improve self-care behaviors in this age group. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a quasi-experimental study. This study was conducted at comprehensive health centers in the east of Guilan province, Iran. METHODS AND MATERIAL: This intervention study was conducted on 106 elderly people with hypertension who were selected with a multi-stage random sampling method from those referred to east health centers of Gilan, Iran, in 2019. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, HBM structure, hypertension knowledge, and hypertension self-care questionnaires. The intervention group received an educational program based on the HBM model. The questionnaire was completed by the elderly before and 2 months after the intervention. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney, Chi-square, Wilcoxon, Fisher, and ANCOVA tests usingSPSS ver.16. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in knowledge and all HBM constructs before and after the intervention in the intervention group (P < 0.001). In the control group, knowledge (P-value = 0.023), self-efficacy (P-value = 0.001), perceived severity (P-value = 0.005), and cues to action (P-value = 0.008) were significantly different (P < 0.05) after the intervention. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that HBM-based education can be considered an effective educational framework for improving self-care of the hypertensive older adults.