November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. Join the Epilepsy Foundation's Now I Know campaign contest to create a video that educates the public about epilepsy.
Nearly 3 million Americans have diagnosed epilepsy, about 300,000 of them are 18 or younger. Every year, approximately 50,000 new cases are diagnosed in children and adolescents under the age of 18.
Epilepsy is a central nervous system disorder characterized by unprovoked, recurrent seizures. Although it often can be treated successfully with medications, surgery and diet, epilepsy can be a life-altering condition.
The Epilepsy Grant Program integrates public health, epilepsy affiliates and providers to develop more seamless services across primary and specialty care, educational services and other community resources.
Project Access grants to states and local governments support demonstration projects to improve access to seizure-related health and other services and encourage early detection and treatment in children and others residing in medically underserved areas. The projects
Cleveland Clinic Tatiana Falcone, MD, project director 216-444-7459 | Epilepsy Foundation Mimi E. Browne, MPH, project director 301.918.3718 | Epilepsy Foundation of Florida Judy Clauser, director of special projects 305-670-4949 |
Epilepsy Foundation of Western & Central Pennsylvania Peggy Beem-Jelley, project director 412-322-5880 | Michigan Department of Community Health CSHCS Division 320 S. Walnut Street Lansing, MI 48913 Linda Fletcher, project coordinator 517-241-5071 | Munroe-Meyer Institute University of Nebraska Medical Center Dr. Linda Cook, project coordinator 402-559-5007 |
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Special Medical Services Elizabeth Collins, CSHCN director 603-271-8181 |
Project Access national resource center cooperative agreement supports
The Epilepsy Foundation is the current grantee.
Both funding opportunities will help to address recommendations from the Institute Of Medicine report, Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding , focusing on the following:
These activities will also contribute to potential areas of collaboration for HRSA as a participant in an ongoing HHS-wide Epilepsies Workgroup that focuses on follow-up activities to address the IOM study.
Case Studies from Project Access Phase II Grantees
Community Engagement and Partnerships to Improve Access to Medical Homes (PDF - 144 KB)
Cultural Brokers Help Families and Providers Bridge the Cultural Divide (PDF - 140 KB)
Toolkits
Project Access Toolkits are sets of information, collected together by category, to facilitate the ease of understanding how to successfully interact with various aspects and elements of epilepsy and those affected by epilepsy. Titles include Epilepsy and My Child and Manual de la Epilepsia y Mi Hijo - The Newly Diagnosed Parent.
e-Newsletters
Sign up for Project Access and/or Project Access: Epilepsy and My Child quarterly newsletters and view archived copies