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

The goal of this study is to identify the needs and barriers to accessing and undergoing epilepsy surgery for patients with epilepsy and then to pilot an educational program regarding the social determinants of health and how they can influence surgical rates and epilepsy outcomes. For the first part, patients (age 18+) and providers will be asked to complete surveys and participate in focus groups to identify gaps and barriers that limit access to and use of epilepsy surgery. For piloting the education program, patients (age 18+) at the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Monitoring Unit will be randomized to intervention or control. Those in the intervention group, in addition to their usual care, will also receive educational materials on social determinants of health and their influence on surgical rates and epilepsy outcomes. Those in the control group will receive their usual care. Both groups will be asked to fill out surveys and questionnaires at the beginning of their stay, at the end of their stay, and if they elect to have surgery, 12 months after surgery.