Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Oct 2020
ReviewBridging the healthcare gap: Building the case for epilepsy virtual clinics in the current healthcare environment.
Access to quality healthcare remains a challenge that is complicated by mounting pressures to control costs, and now, as we witness, the unprecedented strain placed on our healthcare delivery systems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenges in healthcare access have driven a need for innovative approaches ensuring connectivity to health providers. Telehealth services and virtual clinics offer accessible disease management pathways for patients living in health resource limited areas or, as in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, where there may be potential barriers to existing healthcare resources. ⋯ By moving the diagnostic process out of the hospital or epilepsy center, it becomes possible to overcome growing gaps in neurology services. Virtual clinics have the potential to expand access to high-quality, cost-effective care for the patient. The virtual clinic remotely connects those in need of medical support with specialists anywhere in the world, at any time of the day.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Oct 2020
Emergency implementation of telemedicine for epilepsy in Spain: Results of a survey during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Teleneurology in Spain had not been implemented so far in clinical practice, except in urgent patients with stroke. Telemedicine was hardly used in epilepsy, and patients and neurologists usually preferred onsite visits. Our goal was to study impressions of adult and pediatric epileptologists about the use of telemedicine after emergent implementation during the new coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Oct 2020
Medication self-management among parents of children with epilepsy at a tertiary care center in Malaysia.
Self-management is crucial in the management of chronic diseases. However, information is limited on medication self-management among parents of children with epilepsy. This study aimed to assess medication self-management among parents of children with epilepsy and its association with sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics, antiepileptic drug (AED) regimen complexity, and parent self-reported AED adherence. ⋯ The overall medication self-management was satisfactory. Barriers to treatment should be addressed to empower parents to achieve better medication self-management. Furthermore, medication self-management should be reinforced among Malaysian Chinese patients and children with comorbidities.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Oct 2020
Use of a simulation-based mastery learning curriculum for neurology residents to improve the identification and management of status epilepticus.
Appropriate and timely treatment of status epilepticus (SE) decreases morbidity and mortality. Therefore, skill-based training in the identification and management of SE is crucial for clinicians. ⋯ Our SBML curriculum significantly improved residents' SE identification and management skills that were largely retained during an unannounced simulated encounter in the hospital setting.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Oct 2020
Epilepsy self-management during a pandemic: Experiences of people with epilepsy.
The purpose of this descriptive study was to, from the perspective of adult people with epilepsy (PWE) and caregivers of PWE, explore the effects of the current pandemic and resulting societal changes on epilepsy self-management. Ninety-four respondents completed a mixed-methods quantitative and qualitative survey focused on their epilepsy self-management experiences during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. ⋯ Lack of ability to obtain medications or see epilepsy providers, as well as increased stress, social isolation, and changes in routine were all reported as troublesome, and more than one-third of the sample reported an increase in seizure frequency since the onset of the pandemic. Suggestions are given regarding how to support PWE during future COVID-19 outbreaks and to better prepare PWE and their caregivers for any life-altering events, such as a pandemic, with robust self-management skills that will allow them to maintain the highest level of function possible.