Authors :
Presenting Author: Cate Brocker, MSN, APRN, FNP-C – Epilepsy Foundation of America
Shel Lessington, MPH, CHES – Epilepsy Foundation of America
Brian Gilchrist, PhD, MPH – Epilepsy Foundation of America
Brandy Fureman, PhD – Epilepsy Foundation of America
Rationale:
The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) is an evidence-based program that improves health outcomes and lifestyle behaviors and decreases ER visits and hospitalizations in chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke or arthritis. However, it has not been evaluated in people with epilepsy, for whom studies show that epilepsy self-management is important because it can improve quality of life, reduce symptoms of depression and enhance self-care behaviors. The Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA) evaluated how CDSMP affected epilepsy self-management skills and depression scores over a 2-month period in participants with epilepsy recruited through the EFA national network.
Methods:
EFA, in partnership with its nationwide networks of affiliated organizations, offered CDSMP to the epilepsy community and provided centralized evaluation support for the program in this new population. We used the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (ESMS), Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), and Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease (SEMCD) 6-Item Scale to evaluate participants prior to beginning CDSMP and one month post completion.
Results:
Recruitment strategies consisted of social media, targeted outreach and referrals, and 225 adults signed up for CDSMP and 106 completed the program. 36 facilitators were trained by CDSMP master trainers and delivered the CDSMP to the participants. 30 participants completed the program and the evaluations one month’s post completion. Post CDSMP scores for ESMS, PHQ-8, and SEMCD significantly improved related to baseline measures. ESMS improved by an average of 8.7 points (p< 0.001), PHQ-8 improved (decreased) by an average of