Bridging the Gap: Educating Patients on Social Determinants of Health to Improve Epilepsy Surgery Access and Outcomes

Inclusion criteria

• Part 1:
• Epilepsy diagnosis
• Completion of epilepsy surgical evaluation at Cleveland Clinic
• Recommendation for resective/ablation surgery or implantation of neurostimulation device
• At least 18 years old
• Part 2a - Patient survey:
• At least 18 years old
• Epilepsy diagnosis
• Evaluated for epilepsy surgery
• English proficiency enough to complete survey
• Part 2a - Provider survey:
• Healthcare professional in the US who is involved in the clinical care or treatment of individuals with epilepsy
• Part 2b - Cleveland Clinic patient focus groups:
• Epilepsy diagnosis
• Previously completed epilepsy workup at Cleveland Clinic
• At least 18 years old
• Has Basic Interpersonal Fluency Skills in English (based on phone interview)
• Has no evidence of dementia or intellectual disability that would interfere with participation in the focus group
• Part 2b - Cleveland Clinic provider focus groups:
• Clinicians that are members of Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center and provide care to patients with epilepsy
• Part 2b - Community patient focus groups:
• Epilepsy diagnosis
• Previously completed epilepsy workup
• At least 18 years old
• Has Basic Interpersonal Fluency Skills in English (based on phone interview)
• Part 2b - Community provider focus groups:
• Clinician that provides care to patients with epilepsy outside of Cleveland Clinic
• Part 3:
• At least 18 years old
• Fluent in English
• Being evaluated for epilepsy surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

Exclusion criteria

• Part 1:
• Previous epilepsy surgery or implantation of neurostimulation device
• Part 2a - Patient survey:
• Unable to fluently read English
• Has evidence of dementia or intellectual disability that would interfere with patient's understanding of surveys
• Part 2a - Provider survey:
• Unable to fluently read English
• Part 2b - Cleveland Clinic patient focus groups:
• Is not fluent in English
• Has evidence of dementia or intellectual disability that would interfere with patient's understanding of or ability to participate in the focus group
• Has had prior epilepsy surgery
• Part 2b - Cleveland Clinic provider focus groups:
• Clinicians involved in the development of the study design
• Part 2b - Community patient focus groups:
• Is not fluent in English
• Has evidence of dementia or intellectual disability that would interfere with patient's understanding of or ability to participate in the focus group
• Has had prior epilepsy surgery
• Part 3:
• Is not fluent in English
• Evidence of dementia or intellectual disability that would interfere with patient's understanding of intervention