Healthcare providers in West Sussex visited Tesco Extra West Durrington to raise awareness of the risks of high blood pressure (hypertension) for World Hypertension Day (17 May).
This was a Coastal and South Downs and Cissbury Integrated Care’s first community event as part of a health inequalities project to find cases of hypertension in the community, working in partnership with West Sussex Prevention Assessment Team
Around one in four people in Sussex have high blood pressure, but most don’t know it which puts them at increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and other illnesses including COVID-19. We know coming out of the pandemic that hypertension case finding is a priority, particularly among communities that experience health inequalities. The Worthing Community Hypertension Case Finding Project will focus on areas of deprivation in Worthing including Durrington and Northbrook where there are dangerous levels of emergency admissions for heart attacks, which could be brought down by diagnosing more individuals with high blood pressure and starting them on treatment.
We also know that unhealthy lifestyle is a key contributory factor to high blood pressure and small changes to lifestyle can make a big difference to an individual’s health outcomes. The reason for this being a community-based project is to help with reaching individuals who do not ordinarily engage with primary care either through feeling well or not having the time to visit/take time off work which particularly affects those in lower-income areas of Durrington and Northbrook.
Lisa Douglas, Sussex Health and Care Partnership’s Head of Long Term Conditions Programmes said:
“High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and significantly increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Early detection and treatment can help people live longer, healthier lives.”
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