University Health Presentation: Hypertension in Croydon, Public Health

This presentation addresses the prevalence of hypertension in Croydon, an outer London Borough with a diverse population, including a significant proportion of Black and minority ethnic groups (BAME). The presentation highlights the importance of understanding the current statistics, which may underestimate the actual prevalence due to undiagnosed cases. It explores the challenges posed by Croydon's diverse population and the presence of deprived areas, which are associated with a higher risk of hypertension. The proposal focuses on health improvement for ethnic groups in deprived areas, advocating for collaboration with health and social care teams to address multilevel barriers and promote health literacy. The presentation emphasizes the importance of increased disease surveillance and screening to identify gaps in current preventive health services and implement timely strategies for hypertension diagnosis and management. The presentation also refers to several research papers to support the arguments and findings.

Running head: HEALTH CARE POLICY AND PRACTICE
Health care policy and practice
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

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Speech for the presentation:
In this presentation, I am particularly focussing on the issue of prevalence of
hypertension in Cryodon, an outer London Borough with highest population in London and the
potential impact of this condition on future health of the population group. Although the GP
registers on hypertension show much less expected number of people with hypertension,
however this is not the actual statistics (Cryodon Health and Well-Being Board 2018). This is
because many patients are yet to be diagnosed with hypertension. Cryodon has the third highest
number of people above 65 years of age and according to 2017, statistics, more than 50.7 % of
the population belongs to the Blacks and minority ethnic groups (BAME) (Director of Public
Health Report 2017). With the diversity in the population of Cryodon and prevalence of BAME,
finding an appropriate public health measure or quality approach to control hypertension is
importance. Al-Naamani et al. (2017) suggest that many racial or ethnic differences in family
income, education and insurance status also lead to differences in hypertension statistics. Hence,
promoting health equity and promoting health of the racial ethnic group should be made a
national priority.
To develop appropriate proposal to reduce the burden and future risk associated with
hypertension, identifying potential factors that increase the severity of the issue is important. The
diversity of the population is a major challenge while planning public health approach to
prevention of hypertension in Cryodon. Apart from high rate of BAME group in UK, another
issue is that there are many deprived areas in the borough. Research evidence shows that people
living in deprived areas are at higher risk of hypertension and emergency department visits
compared to those live in socially advantaged areas (Vanasse et al. 2014). Hence, the proposal
particularly focussed on health improvement of ethnic groups in Crydon particularly in deprived

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areas. It is proposed to collaborate with health and social cares team to reduce multilevel barriers
contributing to disparities in hypertension and promoting health literacy related to hypertension
in the population to increase utilization of health services at the right time (Halladay et al. 2016).
Hence, making the clinical team aware about the disparities and collaborating with other social
agencies to improve health support and social support for people at risk is important. This would
facilitate addressing systemic barriers such as social and behavioural factors of people.
Increasing disease surveillance and screening would also help to identify gaps in current
preventive health services and implement strategies to diagnose hypertension in a timely manner.

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References:
Al-Naamani, N., Paulus, J.K., Roberts, K.E., Pauciulo, M.W., Lutz, K., Nichols, W.C. and
Kawut, S.M., 2017. Racial and ethnic differences in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Pulmonary
circulation, 7(4), pp.793-796.
Cryodon Health and Well-Being Board 2018. Pharmaceutical needs assessment 2018. Retrieved
from: https://www.croydonobservatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Croydon-2018-
PNA_FINAL-REPORT_MAR2018.pdf
Director of Public Health Report 2017. We are Cyrodon: a changing population. Retrieved from:
https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s1572/Annual%20Report%20of%20the
%20Director%20of%20Public%20Health%202017%20-%20draft.pdf
Halladay, J. R., Donahue, K. E., Cené, C. W., Li, Q., Cummings, D. M., Hinderliter, A. L.,
Miller, C. L., Garcia, B. A., Little, E., Rachide, M., Tillman, J., Ammerman, A. S., … DeWalt,
D. 2016. The association of health literacy and blood pressure reduction in a cohort of patients
with hypertension: The heart healthy lenoir trial. Patient education and counseling, 100(3), 542-
549.
Mueller, M., Purnell, T.S., Mensah, G.A. and Cooper, L.A., 2015. Reducing racial and ethnic
disparities in hypertension prevention and control: what will it take to translate research into
practice and policy?. American journal of hypertension, 28(6), pp.699-716.
Vanasse, A., Courteau, J., Asghari, S., Leroux, D. and Cloutier, L., 2014. Health inequalities
associated with neighbourhood deprivation in the Quebec population with hypertension in
primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Chronic diseases and injuries in Canada, 34(4).

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