Community blood pressure screening

Community Gateway is one of our flagship engagement projects and is committed to building a long-term partnership with residents to make Grangetown an even better place to live and work.

The aim is to facilitate co-produced projects which respond to local needs and mutually benefit the community and University through the development of research, teaching and volunteering opportunities.

In 2017 and 2018, Dr Nichola Gale (Senior Lecturer) and students from Physiotherapy (BSc) at our School, participated in the annual community engagement event ‘Love Grangetown’. As part of the Healthy and Active Grangetown project the team carried out ‘Blood pressure Screening’ of local residents and gave out advice on healthy living.

Every year, the month of May is dedicated to World Hypertension Day as designated by the International Society of Hypertension and the World Hypertension League. During this month millions of people are screened world-wide. The School of Healthcare Sciences team were actively involved in May Measurement Month 18 (MMM18).

The MMM18 event was a really useful way of building my confidence using blood pressure monitors and giving advice on maintaining a healthy BP, which has been a really helpful skill for my placements!

Reach

During ‘Love Grangetown’ the team screened and delivered health advice to 38 individuals in the local community.

In May 2018, the team screened over 200 people at Cardiff University.

Impact

The data collected during MMM events is used firstly to highlight to the public the importance of high blood pressure, and secondly, to motivate governments to improve local screening facilities and policies, and thereby reduce the global burden of hypertension, which causes many cardiovascular diseases that include stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and dementia.

Our students working with the public, provides them with real-life experience and communication skills which are valuable to their futures as healthcare professionals.

Feedback from the event was positive:

Sheila, Grangetown resident commented ‘I am 1 of 12 children and there are only 5 of us left due to Stroke and Heart Disease. I have other health problems but I’ve always suffered with low blood pressure so I don’t get it checked regularly. My blood pressure was up today so I’m really grateful for the help and knowledge you have given me.’

Lucy, Physiotherapy (BSc) student said ‘Participating in the May Measurement Month 2018 allowed me to become more familiar with research protocols and ethics before my upcoming dissertation. It was also a great way to spread awareness of the risks of high blood pressure and what can be done to manage it. Overall, it was a great way to improve my professional skills as a health promoter and researcher!

Chelsie, Physiotherapy (BSc) student said ‘Participating in MMM 18 has provided me with many transferable skills that I can apply within my practice as a soon-to-be allied health professional. It was a pleasure to be part of this global campaign to raise awareness for hypertension.’

Elin, Physiotherapy (BSc) student said 'the MMM18 event was a great opportunity to learn about and promote simple measures that can be done to help lower blood pressure to a healthy level in small manageable steps, I will be able to use this knowledge while in practice placement when giving lifestyle advice to patients.