Abstracts

Rationale: There is increasing evidence that self-management programs for chronic diseases such as epilepsy encourage adherence to care plans and promote patient-provider partnerships. An estimated 64% of adults and 77% percent of young adults presently own a smart phone and 62% of those users have accessed health information on their phone in the past year, therefore mobile health platforms are natural avenues for self-management. Downloadable mobile health applications (known as apps) are widely available, and apps created specifically for epilepsy offer the opportunity to increase epilepsy knowledge and encourage disease self-management, logically improving outcomes. Methods: Our team has created an epilepsy specific “Epilepsy Toolkit” within the Nationwide Children’s Hospital “myChildren’s” Mobile Application. Results: The Epilepsy Toolkit contains epilepsy specific functions which address many of the aspects identified by the CDC and the Institute of Medicine as critical to successful epilepsy self-management and improving overall quality of life for people with epilepsy. These include accurate education about epilepsy, seizure triggers, seizure safety and medications, as well as customizable medication lists with dosing reminders, and features to enhance patient/provider partnering and facilitate access to care. Additionally, our app includes a personalized seizure action plan that can be shared by the patient and family. Conclusions: We believe that this self-management tool will improve the understanding of epilepsy and promote self-determination in patients with epilepsy and their families. The seizure logs, medication lists and seizure action plan can be distributed at the patient and family’s discretion, offering improved communication and safety within the patients’ family and social network. We also envision using the app to foster the independence of adolescents as they are transitioning to adult providers, while still fully supported by their family and pediatric neurologist. Going forward we will evaluate the effect of the Epilepsy Toolkit on patient/provider communication, treatment adherence, patient safety, and quality of life for patients and families affected by epilepsy. Funding: No Funding to Disclose