For this lab, you will measure your own pulse using online instruction, and then you will search online to locate a blood pressure monitor near you to check your blood pressure. You’ll then learn about the Health Belief Model, a theory of health behavior, and consider the limitations of such models when it comes to heart health in the real world.
Part 1
First, let’s check our heart rate! While analyzing your blood pressure requires equipment you might not have access to, anyone with a way to tell time can check their pulse rate. For instructions on the process, check out the following site:
wikiHow: How to Check Your Pulse
There are, of course, other sites that have similar instructions online. Follow the instructions on the site, and then record your heart rate. This will be considered your “resting” heart rate.
However, your heart rate can change quite a bit even if you are healthy! Engage in something strenuous or highly stressful, anything that gets your heart pumping—for many students your age, a one-minute jog or session of jumping jacks will work, but, depending on the space you are working in and your mobility, you can use other methods to raise your heart rate, perhaps watching a scary movie or playing an intense video game. Note your heart rate after this activity, and specify what you did to raise your heart rate. If you want to, you can try to raise your heart rate multiple ways, checking it each time!
Check out this website for more information on target heart rates by age:
UPMC: What Is a Normal Heart Rate?
Based on your results, answer the following questions:
What was your resting heart rate?
What was your “active” heart rate?
What activities did you use to raise your heart rate?
What was your “maximum” heart rate, assuming that you tried multiple ways to raise your heart rate?
How heart-intense did the heart-racing activity you engaged in end up being? What was that activity?
Did you have a healthy heart rate?
Part 2
Your second assignment for this unit is to find and use a blood pressure monitor near you. If you have access to a school nurse’s office, they are likely equipped with a blood pressure monitor, but you can also take the advice of this site:
HRH Care: Find Blood Pressure Testing Near You!
Use an online search engine to find a blood pressure monitoring station near you. As the site mentions, Walgreen’s and CVS stores almost all have blood pressure testing machines or a have a pharmacist who can help you out. If your home has a blood pressure monitor, you can also check your own blood pressure at home, using this information:
Heart.org: Monitoring Your Blood Pressure at Home
To prepare for your blood pressure test, follow the advice at this site:
Blood Pressure UK: How to use a blood pressure monitor
As the site mentions, you will get two numbers; record both numbers. (Many digital blood-pressure monitors also monitor your pulse at the same time—it might be interesting to see if the equipment’s measurement of your resting pulse differs significantly from your manual measurement.) If you work with a healthcare professional to check your pressure, they will be ethically obligated to talk you through any abnormal results, but you should let them know you are doing this for a class assignment and are expected to take the raw numbers and interpret them yourself as much as possible.
Speaking of interpretation, use the following sites to interpret your numbers:
Heart.org: Understanding Blood Pressure Readings
Heart.org: Low Blood Pressure – When Blood Pressure Is Too Low
Based on the readings from the machine and the information on these two sites, please answer the following questions:
What was your systolic number?
What was your diastolic number?
Into which general blood pressure category (low, normal, elevated, and so on) did your readings fall?
What number(s) are abnormal enough that you would contact a doctor immediately?
Where did you get your blood pressure taken? Was there anyone who assisted you in measuring your blood pressure?
How difficult was it for you to find a blood pressure monitor? What might be the health implications for someone living in an area where there is limited access to blood pressure monitors?
Part 3
Now that you have a better picture of your own heart health, let’s consider how we would help other people learn about their own cardiovascular health! Blood pressure and pulse monitoring are very basic steps that can help people detect potential illnesses, but as you can imagine, most people don’t regularly check their pulse and blood pressure unless they have to go to the doctor for an unrelated reason. One popular theory that is used to understand people’s behavior around this issue, and other preventative and diagnostic activities, is the Health Belief Model, developed in the 1950s. You can learn more about the basic tenets of the HBM here:
Nursing Theory: Health Belief Model
Pay particular note to the criticisms of the HBM discussed at the bottom of the page.
Let’s try to apply the HBM to cardiovascular health by thinking through the six major concepts as they apply to heart health. Answer the questions below to the best of your knowledge, based on a combination of your own perceptions or what you see in people around you, using the following two guidelines:
You should use the same specific group for all your answers: adults in your community, seniors across the United States, professional athletes, teenagers suffering from obesity, teenagers suffering from anorexia, and so on. We recommend picking a group that you are somewhat familiar with and for which regular cardiovascular checks makes sense.
For at least ONE of the six major concepts, support your answer by citing a website, article, or other reference material that uses empirical research (experiments, surveys, and so on) to come to the same conclusion you have. A direct link to the material in question is sufficient for a citation this assignment. If you can’t find research specific to the group you are studying, you may extrapolate from the research about a group that most interests you.
Describe the group that you are considering as you answer the six questions in the model.
What is the perceived susceptibility to heart disease among the group?
What is the perceived severity of heart disease among the group?
What is the perceived benefit of regular pulse and blood pressure evaluations to this group?
What are the perceived costs of the evaluations to this group? (Costs can include time, money, and general accessibility.)
What level of motivation does this group have to comply with a recommendation to regularly check their pulse and blood pressure?
Are there any basic socio-demographic factors, such as cultural values and lifestyle practices, related to the age, race, gender, and so on of this group that would modify behavior related to getting regular cardiovascular health checkups?
Based on JUST your answers to questions 2 through 6, what would you estimate to be the percentage of people who are getting regular evaluations of their blood pressure and pulse?
What is missing from the above model when you apply it to real-life people? Is health behavior as rational as the above questions suggest? Do emotions like fear or denial affect the actual behavior? Are there social considerations beyond basic demographic details, such as economic factors, that are missing from the model?
Remember, you must support at least ONE of your answers with a citation!
Your submission for this lab will be a text file answering the three lists of questions.