BIO

My name is Priscilla Reyes and I am from San Jose, Costa Rica. I also was raised in Oregon, Texas, and Florida where I completed high school. I am currently a second-year student majoring in public health on a pre-medical track. My current involvements at FSU include being the founder and president of Make Medicine Human, the communications chair of the American Medical Women's Association, and a proud member of USSTRIDE and of MAPS. I am also a volunteer with Big Bend Hospice, The Kearney Center, and Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be involved with research and meet wonderful individuals that continue to shape my academic experience.

Providing Rural Honduras with Preventative Measures for Hypertension in Adults

Abstract

In the country of Honduras, 1.91% of the total deaths are a result of hypertension. Honduras is considered a LMIC, composed of eighteen “departamentos” or departments that have their own capital cities. This focus of hypertension is within the Yoro department of Gracias a Dios, with a population of approximately 94,000 residents with six municipalities. Gracias a Dios, Honduras is the department with the highest poverty rate (89.4% of the population) with only 27.7% of the households having access to clean water. In terms of healthcare access, the average distance to the nearest hospital is approximately 74.8 kilometers. Therefore, hypertension is often under-diagnosed due to not only this lack of healthcare access but also economic burden and low physician-to-patient ratio. In order to accurately assess the hypertension within this community in partnership with local health care workers, we developed a survey with the intent of distributing it to the population with questions pertaining to diet, lifestyle, and healthcare access.

Keywords: Public Health, Medicine, Rural