Abstracts

Rationale: Epilepsy is a chronic disease that affects approximately 1.2% of the US population regardless of race and ethnicity. Although anyone can be affected by epilepsy, African Americans and Hispanics living with epilepsy are less likely to receive care by an epilepsy specialist. The reasons for these disparities in epilepsy care and access to epilepsy specialists are complex. To address these issues, innovative partnerships are needed to provide epilepsy education and awareness activities for African Americans and Hispanics. To address some health education and promotion challenges faced by racial and ethnic minorities, partnerships between faith-based organizations (FBOs) and healthcare agencies have been established. These partnerships support the management of numerous chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, depression, and overall health and wellness. Because FBOs are trusted entities within African American and Hispanic communities, they serve as powerful venues for chronic care management in minority populations. The Epilepsy Foundation piloted local partnerships with FBOs to facilitate epilepsy education, awareness and management in African American and Hispanic populations.  Methods: Through a competitive process, eight local Foundation offices were selected to provide epilepsy education and awareness activities for African Americans and Hispanics through connecting with FBOs. The FBOs were required to have local connections with racial and ethnic minority populations. The local offices received epilepsy education resources targeting African Americans and Hispanics developed by the national office of the Epilepsy Foundation. The Foundation provided technical assistance to support community engagement strategies selected by the local offices to reach the target audiences. Over a 9-month period, local offices implemented at least four activities to provide epilepsy education and awareness. A community outreach worksheet, and pre/posttests, when appropriate, was completed for each session.  Results: Thirty-nine education and awareness sessions in eight states took place during the project pilot period. Through a variety of community engagement activities led by the Epilepsy Foundation's local offices, over 10,400 participants in a faith-based setting increased their awareness and knowledge of epilepsy. 100% of the local offices participating in the pilot established new partnerships with FBOs. FBOs requested ongoing epilepsy education and awareness activities for their members. Outreach to Hispanic communities were more challenging due to trust and awareness about the Foundation. Engaging Spanish communities required different strategies based on participants' age. Preference for epilepsy education materials for younger Hispanic populations was English rather than Spanish.  Conclusions: Outreach to FBOs proved to be an effective strategy to reach racial and ethnic minorities; specifically, African Americans and Hispanics, for epilepsy education and awareness. Tailored educational approaches enhanced community engagement for epilepsy education offerings. FBOs should be included in broader strategies to reach minority populations for epilepsy education and awareness to support improved health outcomes for all people living with epilepsy.  Funding: Funding for this program is made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under cooperative agreement number 1U58DP0026256-03-00, CFDA 93.850. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC.