An interactive storytelling intervention involving DVDs was tested as a tool for health promotion among 230 African Americans with hypertension attending an inner-city safety-net clinic in the southern United States. Most patients (71.4%) were women, and the mean age was 53.7 years. The study intervention consisted of 3 DVDs that contained patient stories. Storytellers were drawn from the patient population. Patients assigned to the intervention (comparison group) received an attention control DVD; separate random assignments were performed for patients with controlled or uncontrolled hypertension. Among patients with baseline uncontrolled hypertension, significant reductions from baseline were seen at 3 months for both systolic (11.21 mm Hg; p=0.012) and diastolic (6.43 mm Hg; p=0.012) blood pressure in the intervention group. Patients with baseline controlled hypertension did not significantly differ over time between study groups. Blood pressure subsequently increased for both groups, but between-group differences remained relatively constant.
