Easing the pressure: tackling hypertension

Easing the pressure: tackling hypertension is a toolkit for developing a local strategy to tackle hypertension.
2005
Authors: Dr Alan Maryon-Davis and Dr Vivienne Press on behalf of the Cardiovascular Health Working Group of the Faculty of Public Health
Produced by: Faculty of Public Health and National Heart Forum
ISBN: 1 900273 15 2

 

The toolkit is intended to help local multi-agency teams - including public health, health promotion and primary care professionals, and strategic planners in both NHS and local government - develop and implement strategies and action plans, not only to identify and treat patients with hypertension but also to promote health lifestyles and environments to prevent hypertension in the first place.

Easing the pressure: tackling hypertension - online resource includes links to online tools including a 'Hypertension prevalence ready reckoner', as well as proformas and checklists to help assess need and monitor progress.

Download the Toolkit

 

Easing the pressure: tackling hypertension [FULL REPORT 963KB PDF]

 

Download individual sections:

• Preliminaries and Executive Summary [19KB PDF]
  
• Section A: Hypertension: the public health burden [19KB PDF]
  This section defines hypertension. It outlines the risk factors for hypertension, who is most at risk and why. It also describes the burden hypertension places on individuals, on society and the NHS - its prevalence, its health effects and financial costs.
  
• Section B: Reducing the burden: tackling hypertension [47KB PDF]
  Section B looks at the strategic framework for tackling hypertension through prevention, detection and control. It looks at particular approaches to this, including a 'whole population' approach and an 'at-risk' individual or group approach, as well as considering the supporting evidence and broad principles involved.
  
• Section C: Developing a local hypertension strategy [201KB PDF]
  This section gives guidance on the practicalities of developing and implementing a local action plan. It provides information on the necessary elements, including deciding what action is need and where it should be targeted, building local partnerships, choosing interventions on prevention, detection and control, and dealing with barriers to change.
  
• Section D: Resources [443KB PDF]
  The resource section gives further information on relevant publications and guidance, as well as patient information and useful organisations. It also contains the toolset - 15 practical, in-depth resources to help review current activities or services and develop the action plan. (Individual tools are also available to download separately.)
  
• Acronyms and Index [80KB PDF]

Toolset

• Tool H1: Suggested structure for a local hypertension strategy
  
• Tool H2: National policy drivers (1): government health priorities, standards and targets related to blood pressure
  
• Tool H3: Hypertension prevalence ready-reckoner
  (also available as online calculator)
  
• Tool H4: Local partners and their potential roles
  
• Tool H5: A settings approach to tackling hypertension
  
• Tool H6: Checklist for reviewing current activity
  (also available as a Word form)
  
• Tool H7: Cardiovascular disease risk prediction charts
  
• Tool H8: Proforma for developing a hypertension action plan
  (also available as MS Word proforma)
  
• Tool H9: Salt and hypertension
  
• Tool H10: National policy drivers (2): policies and programmes related to healthy eating, physical activity and the wider determinants of health
  
• Tool H11: The GMS contract: quality indicators for hypertension
  
• Tool H12: Patients' thoughts and feelings about taking medicines for hypertension
  
• Tool H13: Suggested minimum content of care plans and patient-held records for hypertension
  
• Tool H14: Ways of involving patients and the public in tackling hypertension
  
• Tool H15: Performance assessment: examples of indicators

Online tools

The following tools are available to use online:

Tool H3: Hypertension prevalence ready-reckoner
Helps you estimate the local prevalence of hypertension.

Tool H6: Checklist for reviewing current activity
This audit checklist can be used to to help you map current services and initiatives, and identify any gaps to help you shape the development of local hypertension strategy.

Tool H8: Proforma for developing a hypertension action plan
This tool can be used to help you build up the key elements of a local hypertension action plan as well as keep track of what is to be delivered, by whom and by when.