Monetary Incentives and Intrinsic Motivation to Sustain Hypertension Control

Subjects will receive a payment of $2 per mm. drop in BP from the baseline value at each follow-up visit. If a subject reaches their target BP, they will receive a minimum of $30 each time to motivate continued participation in the study and reinforce continued improvement relative to baseline BP. Lottery incentives will be added to motivate attainment of intermediate goals. For remembering to do certain actions that assist in the management of their BP, the subject will receive one entry into a lottery with an expected value of $3 per ticket. For the lottery payment, the subject will be given 3 chances to randomly select a card that may or may not show a winning monetary prize.

A)Subjects will complete an additional component to the baseline questionnaire that probes systematically for areas of experience that currently are of importance to them. Their answers will help to identify patients' intrinsic motivations for controlling their BP. B)Answers to this component will be analyzed to characterize a role self-identity that will be used by study personnel to frame their interactions with the subject for the remainder of the study. C) Role identity will be kept highly salient throughout the study by using identity primes that remind the individual that improving blood pressure levels is an important responsibility associated with that role.