WED-078 - Collaboration of Public Safety and the Epilepsy Community to Address Epilepsy Disparities and Discrimination
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area IV: Evaluation and Research Subcompetencies: 4.4.5 Identify implications for practice., 4.4.4 Draw conclusions based on findings. Research or Practice: Practice
Program Manager, Public Health & Equity Epilepsy Foundation
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Discuss partnerships and collaborations to rebuild trust between public safety workforces and epilepsy communities
Demonstrate the need to increase epilepsy knowledge among public safety, social service and public health/ health education providers
Brief Abstract Summary: A 2018 study stated structural racism as one explanation for police violence. Poor interactions with police are more likely realities when identifiers such as race and ethnicity, gender and disabilities are factors. Forty percent of the calls received annually by a national epilepsy nonprofit are related to police interactions. Epilepsy impacts more than 3.4 million Americans. More than 40% of those with epilepsy are African Americans and Hispanics. Limited knowledge and lack of awareness of how seizures may present has resulted in wrongful arrest and premature death by police. Law enforcement officers may mistake seizure and postictal behavior as noncompliance, belligerence, or substance abuse. A Law Enforcement Course was updated through feedback and input from law enforcement officials through focus groups and pilot testing. To date, 139 individuals have completed the training. The course has helped to change police perceptions of seizures and those living with epilepsy.
Detailed abstract description: The average knowledge score at the pretest was 50.14 points and the average knowledge score at posttest was 55.24 points. Therefore, there was an average knowledge increase of about 5 points. The 5-point increase is a statistically significant increase because the significance score ( <.001) is less than the .05 significance score threshold used in most social sciences. As a result, we have confidence that the 5-point increase that we observed would happen at least 95% of the time when we conduct the Law Enforcement training. The average self-efficacy score at pretest was 46.54 points and the average knowledge score at posttest was 52.08 points. Therefore, there was an average knowledge increase of about 5 and a half points. The 5½-point increase is a statistically significant increase because the significance score ( <.001) is less than the .05 significance score threshold used in most social sciences. As a result, we have confidence that the 5½-point increase that we observed would happen at least 95% of the time when we conduct the Law Enforcement training.
