Professor Melvin Lobo, director of the internationally renowned Barts Blood Pressure Clinic, saw one major positive outcome of the pandemic – people becoming more engaged in their own health, with proactive, self-directed blood pressure (BP) monitoring. He explains why this approach can vastly improve the understanding of patterns in hypertensive patients and, in turn, lead to better patient outcomes.
Professor Melvin Lobo, director of the internationally renowned Barts Blood Pressure Clinic, saw one major positive outcome of the pandemic – people becoming more engaged in their own health, with proactive, self-directed blood pressure (BP) monitoring. He explains why this approach can vastly improve the understanding of patterns in hypertensive patients and, in turn, lead to better patient outcomes.
The restrictions around in-person consultations meant we could gently encourage even those less engaged in their condition to take regular readings – to help us understand their condition, but also empower them to take charge of their own health and hypertension.
This was supported by the launch of the NHS blood pressure @home initiative which has seen over 220,000 blood pressure monitors handed out to those diagnosed with uncontrolled high blood pressure, as well as tips and advice on how to measure blood pressure at home, and ways to share this information with their GP.1 This shift towards home monitoring is a real positive to come from the pandemic and I’d urge other healthcare professionals to encourage the continuation of this.
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