Working to Overcome Disparities in Epilepsy Care in the Hispanic Community

Spanish transcript: una traducción al español de esta transcripción está disponible aquí.

This week on Seizing Life ® we look at the challenges faced by minority groups in general and the Hispanic community in particular in accessing quality epilepsy care and learn about a program aimed at addressing these issues. Dr. Refugio Sepulveda, Assistant Professor of Research at the University of Arizona, discusses the known disparities in epilepsy care faced by the Hispanic community and outlines an approach called Mindset that is about to be tested within the community with the goal of empowering patients and providers to improve care and management of epilepsy.

Dr. Sepulveda explains how personal experiences as a child and as a young man inspired him to pursue a career in public health with a recent focus on epilepsy. He outlines many of the factors and challenges which contribute to a lessened level of care within the Hispanic community of which he is a part. Dr. Sepulveda then outlines and describes the Mindset program, an epilepsy self-management program that is preparing for efficacy trials within the Hispanic community in the southwest region of the United States. Though its current focus is on the Hispanic community, the Mindset program holds promise for epilepsy patients and providers across the spectrum, and could become a valuable tool in raising the bar on epilepsy management and care for all patients and families in the epilepsy community. Implementation of the Mindset program may be a few years away, but the information in this podcast can help you and your doctor better communicate, address issues, and improve the level of your own epilepsy care.

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