Difference Between Health Equity and Health Disparities in Epilepsy: Elizabeth Felton, MD, PhD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

“Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, we've seen a ton of studies that have shown that certain groups within epilepsy, whether it be people that are living in rural areas, people that are of a lower socioeconomic standing, people from certain racial and ethnic backgrounds, particularly black and Hispanic or Latinx, have differences in a whole variety of aspects of epilepsy care.”

Recently, there have been a lot of conversations in the clinical field of epilepsy surrounding health equity, such as improving access to care and making sure that patients are being given high quality care. In the next 10 years, addressing health disparities is important for allowing patients to have not only better access through lowered costs and quality care but also an improved quality of life.

Elizabeth Felton, MD, gave a talk on advancing health equity in epilepsy during a symposium at the 2022 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting, held December 2 to 6, in Nashville, Tennessee. During her talk, she spoke about the 13 recommendations from the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Medicine's 2012 report from a health equity perspective. The rest of the session covered the impact of the report on other aspects of the epilepsy community, as well as highlighted successful initiatives as a result of the recommendations.

Felton, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, sat down with NeurologyLive^® in an interview at the meeting to provide an overview about the specifics of her talk. She described the current state of health equity and health disparities in certain populations in terms of clinical care, as well as explained the challenges that certain populations may face regarding covering the costs of insurance to receive the treatment they need.

Click here for more coverage of AES 2022.

REFERENCES
1. Felton, E. Advancing Health Equity in Epilepsy. Presented at: AES Annual Meeting; December 2-6, 2022; Nashville, TN, and virtual. Special Lecture.