Effectiveness of Short-term Medical Missions on Chronic Disease in Underserved Communities

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2021

Abstract

A retrospective chart review study was conducted to evaluate health outcomes after a nurse-led short-term medical mission group provided free health care in four communities in Kingston, Jamaica over a four-year period. Participants were adult patients who had visited short-term medical mission clinics at least twice and were diagnosed with hypertension and/or diabetes. Blood pressure (BP) and blood sugar (BS) results along with factors including adherence and control per guidelines were analyzed using descriptive, t-tests and chi-square analysis. The data revealed that overall BP and BS measurements trended down, and there was a significant decrease in BP in patients with uncontrolled hypertension at the first visit. Medication adherence between the visits and gender had a statistically significant impact on BP and BS control. Outcomes suggest short-term medical missions are an effective model to address hypertension and diabetes in developing countries when using a sustainable approach.

Comments

Published online ahead of print 2020 July 22.

This work was supported by the Sacred Heart University Research/Creative Grant.

DOI

10.1177/0193945920944809

PMID

32698699

Publication

Western Journal of Nursing Research

Volume

43

Issue

4

Publisher

SAGE Journals

Pages

323-329

Link to Full Text


Share

COinS