Abstracts

Rationale: Living Well with Epilepsy I (1997) and II (2003)identified the need to improve social and behavioral science research for, and translation of, epilepsy self-management programs to improve quality of life in people with epilepsy (Living Well With Epilepsy II, 2004). CDC sought to translate these recommendations into an applied research program through development of the Managing Epilepsy Well Network. Methods: In 2007, CDC funded the Managing Epilepsy Well (MEW) Network through its Prevention Research Centers. The MEW Network is composed of four Collaborating Centers(Emory Univ., Univ. of TX Health Science Center at Houston, Univ. of MI, Univ. of WA), CDC staff, affiliate members, Epilepsy Foundation (EF) affiliates and other community stakeholders. The MEW Network uses a Community of Practice Framework to guide its research agenda and its policies and procedures for collaboration. The mission of the MEW Network is to advance the science related to epilepsy self-management by facilitating and implementing research, conducting research in collaboration with network and community stakeholders, and broadly disseminating the findings of research. Results: Since 2007, MEW Network members have been successful in developing and evaluating self-management interventions and depression treatment interventions; assessing stakeholder needs, collaborating with and communicating findings to stakeholders; and translating programs. Collaborating Centers have: -Developed and evaluated a theoretically-based Internet program, WebEase (Web Epilepsy, Awareness, Education and Support)(DiIorio et al, 2009; 2009) -Conducted research to examine socioeconomic differences in self-management and its impact on clinical outcomes in a cohort of epilepsy patients (Begley et al. 2008) -Conducted formative research with chronic disease self-management and epilepsy stakeholders, and with adults with epilepsy to inform targeted and participant-driven self-management program development (Clark et al. 2010) http://www.sph.emory.edu/ManagingEpilepsyWell/documents/reports/Key_Informants_Perspectives_on_Managing_Epilepsy_v3.pdf -Led the development of a decision-support tool for use in epilepsy clinics Developed and pilot tested two community-based interventions (UPLIFT, PEARLS) for depression treatment -Developed a multi-site intervention on epilepsy and depression prevention, funded in 2010 by the NIH Challenge Grant initiative -Supported an external workgroup for the development of a measure of epilepsy self-management -Launched the MEW website at http://www.sph.emory.edu/ManagingEpilepsyWell -Provided training opportunities for implementing a community-based depression treatment intervention(http://www.pearlsprogram.org/) -Applied the MEW model to extend activities related to the self-management of multiple sclerosis Conclusions: The CDC Managing Epilepsy Well Network has been successful in conducting, disseminating, and translating epilepsy self-management research. The community of practice framework has been useful in fostering greater synergy across the MEW Network resulting in expanded research collaboration.