Southeastern Collaboration to Improve Blood Pressure Control

The central objective of this proposal is to rigorously compare two strategies designed to
improve BP control in primary care practices serving rural Southeastern African Americans
with low socioeconomic status (SES) living in the "Black Belt".

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Disparities Report identifies
individuals with rural residence, minority ethnicity, and low SES as being at high risk for
poor health outcomes. The "Black Belt" region stretches from eastern Texas in an arc to
Maryland and includes residents with all 3 of these characteristics - the proverbial triple
threat. This traditionally agricultural region is characterized by steep poverty, low
educational attainment, scarce resources, and mostly African American residents. The Black
Belt is in the heart of the Stroke Belt, a geographic area long recognized to have the
highest cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the US. The AHRQ Disparities Report also
cites that the Southeast has lower quality of care than the rest of the US, thus effective
strategies to optimize CVD prevention in general and hypertension (HTN) control specifically
are urgently needed here.

In year 1 (AIM 1) we're engaging community members (community members who have experience
being community peer advisors or have high blood pressure) to develop the study interventions
and protocols. In years 2-5, the investigators will test these interventions.