Effect of Group Process on Health Behaviors Among Persons with Hypertension in Hypertension Clinic at Li Hospital, Lamphun Province

Abstract

Lifestyle factors mainly cause hypertension. Using group processes to change health behaviors will help hypertensive patients live a quality life. This research is quasi-experimental research to study and compare the effects of using group processes on health behavior of hypertensive patients. The sample group is 60 hypertensive patients who seek treatment at the Hypertension Clinic, Li Hospital, Lamphun Province. The sample group is randomly selected as the experimental group (30 people) and the control group (30 people). The intervention lasted for 16 weeks. The experimental group receives group processes for 4 weeks, including providing knowledge about hypertension and its complications, diet and drug control, exercise, emotional management and medication, and general health care. Meanwhile, the control group receives regular nursing care. Health behavior assessment is performed using the Health Behavior Assessment Form for Hypertensive Patients. Health behavior scores before and after using the group process are analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. and between groups using the Mann- Whitney U test. The research results found that hypertensive patients in the experimental group after using the group process had higher mean health behavior scores than the group before using the group process, which is different. Statistically significant (p<.01) and those with hypertension after receiving the group process had a significantly higher mean health behavior score than the group that received normal nursing, at a statistically significant (p<.01) These results indicate that the group process effectively increased knowledge and improved health behavior management in hypertensive patients, enabling better blood pressure control. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses and healthcare teams incorporate group process-based learning into health behavior modification programs for hypertensive patients. This approach can enhance self-care practices, ensuring appropriate health behaviors.