Abstracts

Rationale: Art therapy groups can be beneficial for people with epilepsy due to the tendency for people living with seizures to isolate themselves for fear of feeling uncomfortable in social settings (Coss & Schachter, 2005). Fisher et al. (2000) found that fear, lifestyle limitations, and stigma were rated the most difficult aspects of epilepsy. We hypothesized that these variables contribute to lower self-esteem and overall quality of life and that providing positive socialization in an art therapy group would have a statistically significant effect for adults with epilepsy. A pilot study examined the impact of art therapy on self-esteem and quality of life in individuals with epilepsy. Methods: Nine Epilepsy Foundation Affiliates in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Louisville, KY, Minneapolis, MN, Phoenix, AZ, and Boston, MA facilitated 1 art therapy group a week over an 8 week period. Each group enrolled between 7 and 12 participants. The groups were conducted from January 2012-December 2013. Participants were recruited by affiliates using printed marketing materials and social media outreach. There was no cost to participants. Master's degree level art therapists were trained in the program and facilitated the groups using an open studio model of art therapy for three hours each week. Art therapists provided a variety of art materials and invited participants to set an intention, make art, write about their experience, and share with others. Intervention fidelity was assured through initial training and monthly conference calls with the study coordinator. Pre and post intervention outcomes were measured using the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale and the QOLIE-10. One-tail paired sample t-tests (N=67) were examined. Results: Of the 67 participants, the majority were female (42) with an age range from 20 to 80. Participants reported the following seizure types; complex partial seizures, generalized tonic clonic seizures, absence, myoclonic, atonic, and multiple seizure types. More than half of the participants reported experiencing monthly or yearly seizures (56%), with 85% taking one or more medications. The majority were unemployed (46), 43 were never married, 20 had completed some college and 25 were college and post college graduates. The attrition rate over the 8 week program was 8. Self-esteem improved over the course of the intervention (t=1.796, p=.03). Quality of Life did not improve (t=1.024, p=.15). Conclusions: This pilot study shows that the art therapy program was successful in that it improved self-esteem. Further, attrition was very low suggesting participants found this to be a valuable program. It is likely that the Quality of Life did not improve because the art therapy program was not designed to address issues such as driving or employment (among other variables) measured on the QOLIE-10. Because of the success of the art therapy program our next steps will include a randomized control trial to provide further evidence of the efficacy of this program.