Comprehensive care for people with severe epilepsy, guidelines to elevate care

The 2023 guidelines include 52 recommendations that span the range of services that should be part of high-quality epilepsy centers, including inpatient evaluation, therapeutic options, and outpatient chronic disease management. The guidelines recognize the importance of multi-disciplinary care teams in coordinating the effort of different specialists working together to diagnose and treat patients.

For the first time, the guidelines recommend centers should offer genetic testing and counseling.

provide more education and communication for patients.

give greater attention to special needs populations.

employ a care coordinator who organizes and facilitates multidisciplinary care.

provide mental health screening (anxiety, depression, and learning difficulties are much more common in people with epilepsy than the general population).

address health disparities and inequities among the epilepsy patient population.

The recommendations were informed by an evidence review and reflect the consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of 41 stakeholders with diverse expertise, including patient and caregiver representatives, EEG technologists, nurse practitioners, social workers, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, and others who support epilepsy center care.

Reference: New guidelines aim to elevate comprehensive care for people with severe epilepsy; Neurology; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000208087