Public Health Institute

Our current five-year CDC Cooperative Agreement centers on improving epilepsy education, systems of care, and health outcomes through national and community partnerships. To achieve these goals, we must recognize and address the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) - conditions in places where people live, learn, work, and play which affect a wide range of health and quality of life risks and outcomes. In Year 4, we are focusing on Addressing Epilepsy Inequities in Educational Settings. 

Conference Objectives

Our conference objectives are:

• To convene the network, partners, and stakeholders of the Epilepsy Foundation, increasing their knowledge and skills to apply public health practices to address educational disparities experienced by people with epilepsy.
• To improve the capacity of the network, partners, and stakeholders of the Epilepsy Foundation to address social determinants of epilepsy in educational settings through collaborations and partnerships.
• To increase engagement between the network, partners, and stakeholders of the Epilepsy Foundation and the educational workforce, including K-12 personnel, college and university staff, education administrators, and accessibility resource officers, to improve interactions with children and college-aged adults with epilepsy.

Topic Highlights 

Find important topics to attend during the conference, including: 

• Epilepsy and Seizure Safe Classrooms training for teachers and new instructors
• Spanish Seizure First Aid Instructor Training
• Epilepsy Foundation Legal Defense Fund cases: Epilepsy discrimination in educational settings
• Epilepsy prevalence and educational determinants of epilepsy
• Engaging youth and young adults to address epilepsy disparities
• Understanding SUDEP resources
• Transition to adult care resources
• Engaging campus-communities to create seizure safe colleges and universities

Additional information regarding, such as frequently asked questions, is forthcoming.

Pre- and Post-PHI Trainings

Pre-conference Training: Epilepsy and Seizure Safe Classrooms Program

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

This training program is designed to equip educators and teachers with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to implement the Epilepsy and Seizure Safe Classrooms program. Through this two-part "train-the-trainer" approach, participants will observe the program in action within a school setting and receive hands-on instruction on utilizing the age-specific toolkits effectively. The goal is to empower educators to confidently deliver the program in their own schools or youth groups, ensuring that students gain essential seizure awareness and first-aid knowledge.

Attend the Train-the-Trainer Session if you are already a Seizure First Aid Instructor who wants to train teachers to implement this course in their classrooms and/or a teacher who wants to implement this course with your students to help reduce stigma.

Have questions? Contact programs@efa.org.

Post-conference Training: Seizure First Aid Certification Training

Friday, March 14, 2025

If you are yet to become certified in Seizure First Aid or if you want to observe a live instructor led training before you start conducting your own trainings as a new SFA Instructor, this training is for you. 

Two college students living with epilepsy will share their lived experiences before and after the training to further demonstrate epilepsy disparities in educational settings. 

Pre-Registration and Pre-Assessment via Epilepsy Learning Portal are required.

Post-conference Training: Spanish Seizure First Aid INSTRUCTOR Train-the-Trainer Session (In Spanish)

Friday, March 14, 2025

The Epilepsy Foundation is looking for Spanish-speaking instructors to deliver our Spanish Seizure First Aid program. Spanish-speaking instructors can lead trainings in their own communities with the support of the Epilepsy Foundation. EFA national and affiliates staff are welcome to attend this training, in addition to partners who meet the criteria.

In order to become an instructor, candidates have to:

• be Seizure First Aid certified, 
• submit the instructor form and agreement, 
• participate in our instructor orientation meetings, and 
• be fluent in Spanish.

For more information, contact Spanish Language Training Program Manager Victor Solis at vsolis@efa.org.

Epilepsy Foundation Affiliate Travel Stipend

Each Epilepsy Foundation Affiliate is being offered $1,200 to send a representative to the Public Health Institute held March 12-14, 2025 in Washington, DC. 

We recommend the executive director, program staff and/or relevant outreach staff attend PHI.

It is preferred that you stay at the host hotel (Hilton Capitol Hill) so you can utilize the free shuttle to and from Howard University.  Each Affiliate is responsible for making and paying for their own travel and hotel reservations. The travel grant will be awarded after the conclusion of the PHI meeting. On-site registration will be utilized for attendance verification. The stipend will not be offered to those who attend PHI virtually. 

Travel stipends should be requested by completing the 2025 PHI Travel Stipend Request Form by Friday, January 10, 2025.  

After this date, any EF Affiliate interested in requesting additional funds to support their travel efforts may contact Shel Lessington at slessington@efa.org to determine if there are unclaimed travel stipends. 

Please note the travel stipend for EF Hawai’i will be $1,800.

These travel stipends are for EF Affiliates ONLY.

If there are any questions related to travel stipends for EF Affiliates, please contact Thometta Cozart at tcozart@efa.org.