Abstract
Aim: Self-management education is a key component of hypertension care. However, individuals with low health literacy often have suboptimal self-management skills even after receiving such education. Little is known about their experiences in receiving self-management education. This study aims to explore the facilitators and barriers of accessing, understanding, appraising and using information provided in self-management education among community-dwelling individuals with hypertension in Vietnam, with perspectives from healthcare professionals and people with hypertension.
Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants with hypertension who were currently receiving care at a community health centre (CHC) in Vietnam, and had a health literacy score of 33 or below (assessed by the Vietnamese Short-Form Health Literacy Questionnaire). Additionally, physicians and nurses currently working in the CHC with experience in providing self-management education for individuals with hypertension were also invited to participate in the study. The participants were interviewed via the Zalo app. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 12 software and thematic analyses were used to analyse the interview data.
Results: Twenty individuals with hypertension and five healthcare professionals (three physicians and two nurses) were included. Three main themes were identified: (1) Challenges including limited proactive communication, lack of basis understanding about disease, difficulty finding trustworthy health information, and insufficient resources support; (2) facilitators including experiences better health, family and social support; and (3) suggestions including tailored education materials, providing hands-on practice, and continuing support.
Conclusions: Future self-management interventions for individuals with hypertension and low health literacy should focus on strengthening proactive communication, simplifying information into visual and actionable steps, and promoting social and family support.
Notes
References:
1) Bamidele, F. I., Bello, C. B., Akinwale, O. D., & Falana, M. S. (2024). Assessing the relationship between health literacy intervention and hypertension self-management: A 7-year systematic review from January 2016 to December 2022. Journal of Integrative Nursing, 6(2), 127–135. https://doi.org/10.4103/jin.jin_151_23
2) Duong, T. V., Nguyen, T. T. P., Pham, K. M., Nguyen, K. T., Giap, M. H., Tran, T. D. X., Nguyen, C. X., Yang, S. H., & Su, C. T. (2019). Validation of the short-form health literacy questionnaire (HLS-SF12) and its determinants among people living in rural areas in Vietnam. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), 3346. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183346
3) Sorensen, K., Van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J., Doyle, G., Pelikan, J., Slonska, Z., Brand, H., & Consortium Health Literacy Project, E. (2012). Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health, 12, 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-80
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Descriptive/Correlational
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Primary Care, Long-Term Care, Public and Community Health, Health Self-Care, Patient Education, Hypertension, Health Literacy
Recommended Citation
Vo, Nhi Thi; Lo, Suzanne Hoi Shan; and Tam, Hon Lon, "Perception About Self-Management Education for People with Hypertension and Low Health Literacy" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 266.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/266
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-09-07
Perception About Self-Management Education for People with Hypertension and Low Health Literacy
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Aim: Self-management education is a key component of hypertension care. However, individuals with low health literacy often have suboptimal self-management skills even after receiving such education. Little is known about their experiences in receiving self-management education. This study aims to explore the facilitators and barriers of accessing, understanding, appraising and using information provided in self-management education among community-dwelling individuals with hypertension in Vietnam, with perspectives from healthcare professionals and people with hypertension.
Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants with hypertension who were currently receiving care at a community health centre (CHC) in Vietnam, and had a health literacy score of 33 or below (assessed by the Vietnamese Short-Form Health Literacy Questionnaire). Additionally, physicians and nurses currently working in the CHC with experience in providing self-management education for individuals with hypertension were also invited to participate in the study. The participants were interviewed via the Zalo app. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 12 software and thematic analyses were used to analyse the interview data.
Results: Twenty individuals with hypertension and five healthcare professionals (three physicians and two nurses) were included. Three main themes were identified: (1) Challenges including limited proactive communication, lack of basis understanding about disease, difficulty finding trustworthy health information, and insufficient resources support; (2) facilitators including experiences better health, family and social support; and (3) suggestions including tailored education materials, providing hands-on practice, and continuing support.
Conclusions: Future self-management interventions for individuals with hypertension and low health literacy should focus on strengthening proactive communication, simplifying information into visual and actionable steps, and promoting social and family support.
Description
This study explored experiences of people with hypertension and low health literacy in Vietnam when receiving self-management education. Three themes emerged: (1) challenges: limited proactive communication, poor basic disease knowledge, difficulty finding trustworthy information, and lack of support resources; (2) facilitators: improved health experiences, family and social support; and (3) suggestions for improvement: tailored materials, hands-on practice, and ongoing support.