Abstracts

Rationale:

Rationale:
Epilepsy is a chronic brain condition that increases the risk of a person having recurrent seizures. Currently, 3.5 million Americans are people living with active epilepsy (PWAE).  Approximately 40% of PWAE in the U.S. are racial and ethnic minorities, and 11% are African American.  Over one million PWAE in the United States are women and girls. Many epilepsy patients have unmet needs associated with social determinants, including employment and discrimination. Black women living with epilepsy are at a higher risk for co-morbidities, such as strokes, obesity and psychological distress. Yet, some Black women with epilepsy still feel marginalized due to a lack of public awareness.
Method:
Methods: A brief intervention was conducted at a national cultural event targeting African American women.  The purpose of the intervention was to determine the epilepsy knowledge and seizure awareness levels of Black women through patient empowerment education. A posttest only survey was administered to assess the impact of the intervention. African American women living with epilepsy were recruited and trained to provide epilepsy awareness education, along with seizure first aid tips, as part of a health fair that attracts nearly 600,000 individuals annually. Survey respondents were entered into a raffle for door prizes as an incentive for completing the survey. The massive festival being in Louisiana, a state where there is no Epilepsy Foundation affiliate or chapter, further demonstrated the need for increased epilepsy awareness and education.
Results:
Results: Most of the survey respondents were African American, female and between ages 40 and 45. Among the sample (n=250), 85.2% were aware of different types of seizures, and 78.8% knew that an object should not be placed in the mouth of someone having a seizure. Many respondents (53.7%) did not know that African Americans were more likely to develop epilepsy compared to Whites. Most were not aware (64.3%) of the Foundation before visiting the booth at the event. Finally, 56% of the respondents reported interacting with Black women living with epilepsy impacted their decision to learn more about seizures.
Conclusion:
Conclusion: By working with Black women living with epilepsy to share their unique health journeys, the public’s knowledge and awareness levels of epilepsy was raised. This patient empowerment project allowed Black women living with epilepsy to build confidence and enhance capacity in providing epilepsy health education and serving as a health resource. Conducting culturally appropriate outreach at racially-based events is an inspiring approach to raise epilepsy awareness among African American women and should be considered more often as a method for engaging other racial and ethnic minorities 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 1NU58DP006256-03-00, CFDA 93.850. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC.