Brief intervention for stress management and change in illness perception among hypertensive and normotensive workers: pilot study and protocol

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe and evaluate the effects of a pilot intervention on perceived stress, knowledge about hypertension, and illness perception among hypertensive and normotensive workers. The intervention consisted of two group sessions performed in the workplace aiming to reduce stress, increase knowledge about hypertension, and explore the effect on illness perception. The sessions included clinical aspects of systemic arterial hypertension, illness perception and health behavior, and strategies for stress management. Workers from a petrochemical industry (19 hypertensive and 14 normotensive) participated in the study by answering a biosociodemographic questionnaire, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and a quiz with questions about hypertension. The measurements were collected at an initial meeting to gather the participants and 90 days after the intervention. There was a significant reduction in the perceived stress levels of both groups, in addition to an increase in the perception of personal control and illness coherence. Normotensive workers also increased their knowledge about hypertension, while hypertensive patients increased the perception that treatment could control the illness. In conclusion, the pilot intervention generated positive effects and can be considered a strategy of illness prevention for normotensive workers and control for hypertensive patients.

Illness perceptions and perceived stress in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer

“…Patients living with cancer would benefit from interventions designed to explore perceptions about their illness and manage stress. Group interventions incorporating stress management, illness education, coping skills, and challenging poor thought patterns have been effective in reducing negative illness perceptions and stress . Researchers should continue efforts to develop interventions that explore illness perceptions and either challenge maladaptive thought processes or facilitate acceptance of their new reality.…”

“…The additional findings may be due to the previous study including multiple cancer diagnoses wherein the current study only looked at gastrointestinal cancers. This theory is only an assumption and the underlying cause for differences in illness perceptions between individuals remains unclear.Patients living with cancer would benefit from interventions designed to explore perceptions about their illness and manage stress.Group interventions incorporating stress management, illness education, coping skills, and challenging poor thought patterns have been effective in reducing negative illness perceptions and stress 31,32. Researchers should continue efforts to develop interventions that explore illness perceptions and either challenge maladaptive thought processes or facilitate acceptance of their new reality.…”

Medicina Conductual: Avances y Perspectivas

“…El conocimiento, las experiencias y las creencias pueden contribuir a la forma en que las personas evalúan situaciones y las afrontan; la evaluación de estrés se asocia entonces con los eventos cotidianos, incluyendo a la enfermedad crónica, por lo que la percepción de que esta última es amenazante puede generar estrés (Pires, Peuker, & Castro, 2017).…”

Principles, tools and techniques for brief behaviour change interventions

“…These approaches have been evidenced and practised particularly for substance use (Babor et al 2017, Frost et al 2018, but show transferability to other health-related lifestyle behaviours. Brief intervention (BI) demonstrates effectiveness in reducing falls risk (Pires et al 2017), managing stress and anxiety (Roy-Byrne et al 2009), smoking cessation (Bowden et al 2010), cancer risk reduction (Mills et al 2021) and for increasing physical activity (Scott et al 2019). Recently, Bourhill et al (2021) found that applying multiple behaviour change techniques encourages obese people to attend weight management clinics.…”