Programs to address comorbidities in older adults with epilepsy seek to grow enrollment

Key takeaways:

• Researchers assessed self-management programs for comorbidities in older adults with epilepsy.
• Barriers such as follow-through, time and staffing need to be addressed, the researchers said.

ORLANDO — Self-managing programs to address comorbidities in patients with epilepsy require more education and independence from the creators, according to a poster.

“We found evidence-based programs that were helpful for folks with epilepsy for other comorbid conditions including mood disorders and memory issues,” Amanda Gordon, MSN, NP-C, a nurse practitioner at Atrium Health Neurology, told Healio at the American Epilepsy Society annual meeting. “But we hadn’t seen a lot of research out there about implementation in a community setting.”

As Atrium Health contains both a level 3 and level 4 epilepsy center that initiated Project UPLIFT and HOBSCOTCH self-management beginning in January 2021, Gordon and colleagues sought to address various issues and barriers of patient willingness to commit to these programs during a second turn (HOBSCOTCH, UPLIFT, SMART) that began in November 2022.

Their study initially involved recruiting individuals from the epilepsy clinic based on a six-item questionnaire given to each enrollee, which was reviewed by staff members who then contacted interested parties. Despite significant interest, Atrium encountered the problem of inducing individuals to begin the programs and stay with them until the end.

Researchers then began to pursue education through brochures, posters and emails, after which interested parties were directed to self-refer.

According to results, out of 91 interested parties, 16 patients enrolled in all programs combined during the initial run, while only 11 patients successfully completed the programs out of 552 completed questionnaires over 18 months. For the programs’ second run, 68 individuals expressed interest, 21 were enrolled, and nine have completed all programs.

The researchers intend to focus on education as a path to enrollment, also finding interested parties appear more dedicated to completing their course when allowed to self-refer. Additionally, data show staff require more time to complete these programs with all participants.

“We’re still trying to grow our members as far as recruitment and completion of the programs but our folks that have completed the programs have had improvement in anxiety and depression screenings and quality of life screenings,” Gordon told Healio.