Community Health Workers Key to Improving Epilepsy Care and Outcomes

Research conducted at Dartmouth College has shed light on the vital role that community health workers (CHWs) can play in enhancing epilepsy care and health outcomes. The study, published in Frontiers in Neurology, advocates for the integration of CHWs onto epilepsy care teams to address health inequities and provide whole-person patient-centered care. By incorporating social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and multidisciplinary professional roles, CHWs can drive systemic change in the practice of epilepsy care.

Key Takeaways:

• The integration of community health workers (CHWs) onto epilepsy care teams has been shown to lead to improved health outcomes.
• CHWs can play a vital role in addressing health inequities by incorporating whole-person patient-centered care and addressing social determinants of health (SDOH).
• A conceptual model has been introduced to support the pragmatic integration of CHWs onto epilepsy care teams and the implementation of standardized SDOH screening.
• The model emphasizes collaboration between epilepsy centers, medical centers, health systems, community partners, and nontraditional CHW professional workforce.
• The research highlights the importance of incorporating multidisciplinary professional roles and common epilepsy center frameworks for delivering care.
• The study recommend that additional information may be obtained by contacting Elaine T. Kiriakopoulos, Department of Neurology, Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine.
• Additional authors for this research include Felicia Chu, Barbara C. Jobst, Rosemarie Kobau.

Statistics:

• The study highlighted the limited integration of CHWs into specialty care teams, particularly within epilepsy care.
• The research concluded that embedding CHWs onto epilepsy center teams presents a promising opportunity to address health inequities.
• The study emphasized the importance of collaboration between 5 key stakeholders: epilepsy centers, medical centers, health systems, community partners, and nontraditional CHW workforce.
• The conceptual model introduced in the study requires the integration of at least 5 key components: CHWs, SDOH screening, multidisciplinary professional roles, and common epilepsy center frameworks.

Sources:

• Innovating the practice of epilepsy care to improve patient outcomes: a model for community health worker integration. Frontiers in Neurology, 2025,16.
• Elaine T. Kiriakopoulos, Department of Neurology, Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States