Abstracts

Conceptual Development of a Novel Social-emotional Learning Curriculum for Youth with Epilepsy to Enhance Social Support

Abstract number : 2.084
Submission category : 17. Public Health
Year : 2024
Submission ID : 597
Source : www.aesnet.org
Presentation date : 12/8/2024 12:00:00 AM
Published date :

Authors :
Presenting Author: Kiya Walker, MPH – Boston Medical Center

Jennifer Flynn, M.Ed. – Boston Medical Center
Laurie Douglass, MD – Boston Medical Center

Rationale: Youth with epilepsy (YWE) often grapple with isolation, diminished relationship satisfaction, and interpersonal victimization, significantly impacting their Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and presenting a notable public health concern. It is crucial to understand the unique experiences of YWE in order to develop programs and healthcare services to address their social health. However, there is limited research exploring the intersectionality between the adolescence life stage, epilepsy, and social support systems to inform the best methods to enhance the social well-being of YWE. A large safety-net hospital sought to develop a social emotional learning (SEL) intervention for youth with epilepsy that would empower the youth and foster communication skills to leverage and grow their support network.


Methods: Researchers, clinicians, educators, and public health professionals conducted an extensive literature review of frameworks to understand these interconnected identities. They developed a novel conceptual model and pilot protocol for a community health worker-led curriculum aimed at strengthening the social connections and resilience of YWE. Three frameworks were adapted to develop a novel intervention: Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Social-Ecological Model (SEM), as summarized in Figure 1, the YouthThrive Framework, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Framework. Concepts from these three frameworks, along with reporting guidelines for pilot interventions, were integrated to develop a protocol and facilitator guide for piloting the curriculum.


Results: The resulting SEL curriculum, detailed in Table 1, is a virtual 1-1 curriculum consisting of five sessions with a trained facilitator and aims to address the distinct social support needs of YWE to enhance their HRQOL. Guided by the SEM framework as a foundation for the curriculum, each session integrates principles from YouthThrive and CASEL to comprehensively tackle the multifaceted social needs of YWE. Researchers developed a protocol to conduct a pilot study and a feasibility study for the program.


Conclusions: This structured curriculum aims to empower YWE by fostering robust social support networks crucial for navigating the challenges posed by epilepsy during adolescence. The significance of this work is the development of a formal protocol that will allow researchers to study for the first time how a targeted SEL curriculum might impact the perceived social support of YWE, which has not been explicitly targeted in other interventions for YWE as of the time of writing.


Funding: Charles H. Hood Foundation

Public Health