FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Your voice matters, and the Department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration would like to hear it. The DOD and VA have partnered together and are inviting patients to share their experiences managing hypertension, or high blood pressure. This initiative is part of a virtual focus group on Friday, Sept. 26 at noon ET. It will help shape clinical practice guidelines for treating hypertension across military and veteran communities.

“Your input helps ensure that treatment guidelines reflect the real-world needs and challenges of patients,” said U.S. Public Health Service Capt. Margaret Rincon, Chief, Clinical Quality Improvement, at the Defense Health Agency. “By sharing your story, you’re helping create a stronger, more responsive standard of care.”

This focus group needs nine volunteers from the DOD and lasts about two hours.

Participants will provide their experience and feedback that will inform the updates to the clinical practice guideline for hypertension. The deadline to register is Friday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. ET.

A guideline for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is also in development. We’ll make another announcement once the date and time has been set.

Requirements

You can join if:

You have a diagnosis of high blood pressure or you’re a caregiver of a person diagnosed with high blood pressure.
You’re at least 18 years old.
You or the person you care for gets most of the care for this condition at a military hospital or clinic.

What you’ll do

During the virtual session, you’ll:

Discuss your experiences in a small group led by a facilitator

You’ll be provided the opportunity to review and comment on the final draft of the treatment guidelines.

Note that your personally identifiable information won’t be included in the guideline.

How to register

Email the Defense Health Agency CPG Group mailbox at dha.ncr.medical-affairs.mbx.cqi-cpg@health.mil. Please put the focus group topic in your subject line.

You can join more than one focus group, but you must sign up for each one separately.

Watch the TRICARE Newsroom for dates and sign-up deadlines for upcoming focus groups.

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