HEALING TOUCH AS SELF-CARE FOR VETERANS WITH HYPERTENSION

Abstract

Seventy-eight million Americans suffer from hypertension, a key factor of cardiovascular diseases nationally and worldwide. Stress has been implicated as one of the contributors to hypertension (HTN). One out of every three veterans are diagnosed with high blood pressure. Roger’s Theory of Science of Unitary Human Beings and Lazarus’ Transactional Theory of stress were used to guide this study. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine whether the use of self-care healing touch, can reduce stress and anxiety in veterans 60 and older, diagnosed with hypertension. In this a pre-intervention, post-intervention randomized two-group experimental pilot study, 24 veterans, 10 African American, 9 Caucasians, 6 other, were recruited from Los Angeles County. Participants were randomized into 2 groups (intervention and control) for this 4 week study. Outcome measures included changes in blood pressure, self-reported stress using the Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) and anxiety measured using the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Results showed a significant difference in the systolic blood pressure in the intervention group compared to the control group at Week 4. There was a marginal significance found in the heart rate, but no statistical significance seen in the stress or anxiety results on this minimal sampling study.