Understanding the search for patients' well- being in a program of hypertension

Abstract

The objetive of the research is to describe the living experience of the health - illness process in hypertensive patients with normal leves of blood pressure, adscribed to a control program for hypertension offered by the local hsopital in Valdivia (Chile) and considers patients' cultural contest.

The research method used is the ethnographic survey of Spardley (1979-1980), which allows description and interpretation of the hypertensive patients who reached normal levels of blood pressure in their cultural context.

Patients percibe hypertension as of sudden onset followed by symptoms and complications causing great dependency and requires immediate medical attention.

To enjoy she well - being she person percibes several situations, memories of experiences causing discapacity, complications leading to emergency care and created great dependency, adherence to a pharmacological treatment and a diet.

The investigated patients added to all these some medicinal plants, practice taken from the cultural context and encouraged by their families. Thus, the self care and the family care gives them the opportunity to maintain normal blood pressure levels and well - being. To reach it requires the utilization of two systems which are complementary, the rol of the professionals and especially the mentioned cultural believes, leading users to affirm that to reach well - being is a ";mather of faith";