# Examining the Feasibility of Implementing a Hypertension Storytelling among African Americans with Hypertension

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · 2023 · $162,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Storytelling interventions for chronic disease, are described as personal narratives of living with the health
condition. Previous storytelling interventions have been effective in promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyle
change. For hypertension, storytelling interventions have contributed to reductions in blood pressure among
and increased uptake of lifestyle and behavioral change. Groups traditionally underrepresented in health
research and interventions, may not have access to innovative lifestyle interventions, but these communities
often have the greatest need for access to health interventions. Our preliminary work includes the Penn State
Clinical and Translational Science KL2 funded project titled Developing a Storytelling Intervention for African
Americans with Hypertension. During the KL2 project, nine African Americans with hypertension receiving care
at a Federally Qualified Health Center, were filmed sharing their stories of managing hypertension and sharing
helpful tips for lifestyle changes to manage hypertension. Our proposed intervention will consist of three
groups: 1) usual care 2) Storytelling (storytelling + educational information) accessed using a study website 3)
Storytelling Plus (group storytelling sessions + peer-led educational sessions and goal setting). Peer health
coaching has been a successful approach for promoting healthy behaviors and can be easily integrated into a
safety-net setting. We hypothesize that incorporating Peer Health Coaches into the storytelling intervention will
bolster the engagement with a storytelling intervention. Delivering the intervention using a study website
increases the accessibility of the intervention and allows the participant to view study materials at their
convenience. The outcomes for the proposed study are 1) to assess the feasibility of implementing the
Storytelling and Storytelling Plus interventions by assessing recruitment, retention, acceptability, and fidelity
and 2) the preliminary impact on self-reported medication adherence and blood pressure. The long-term goal
of this project is to develop storytelling interventions that can be integrated into the clinical workflow of a FQHC
and can potentially be disseminated to other FQHC and safety-net settings to promote healthy behaviors and
lifestyle change among African Americans with hypertension.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10570545
- **Project number:** 1K01HL166372-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
- **Principal Investigator:** Yendelela Levana Cuffee
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $162,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-06-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10570545

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10570545, Examining the Feasibility of Implementing a Hypertension Storytelling among African Americans with Hypertension (1K01HL166372-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10570545. Licensed CC0.

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