HYPERTENSION SELF-CARE MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19PANDEMIC CRISISIN THE MERANAO TRIBE:A PHENOMENOLOGICALINQUIRY

The COVID-19 crisishas been a challenging and stressful eventfor individuals with known underlying health problems, not to mention their higher risk of contracting the disease. This phenomenological inquiry was conducted to explore the common self-care practices of the Meranao tribe in the Province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines, concerning their manage-ment of hypertension amidst the ongoing pandemic health crisis.This study employedadescriptive-phenomenological approach.Ten known hypertensive adultsparticipated in the studyselected using purposive sampling. Data collection employed focus group discussion(FGD)and then analyzed using Colaizzi'sapproach.Four themes werederived which explained the common practices of the tribe in the self-care management of hypertension amidst thecrisis: 1) the use of herbal remedies;2) compliance with prescribed medications;3) dietary control;and 4) remaining physically active.Pa-tients’ strict compliancewith known scientific self-care practices in managing hypertension forms a multidimensional strategy in controlling, managing, and preventing hypertension and its related complications.