In the week where Epilepsy Ireland officially announced the opening of our 7th research funding call, we are delighted to see another global acknowledgement of research we have funded.
With the How2Tell study featured recently in Epilepsia(you can find associated article by visiting the 'News' section of our site), a further Epilepsy Ireland funded study has now been featured in another renowned epilepsy journal –Seizure.
Not only has “An evaluation of the role of the Epilepsy Specialist Nurse and the impact on patient quality of life” been featured but it also has the acclaim of being featured as “Editor’s Choice”. Further details on this study can be found by visiting the 'Research' section of our website.
Articles chosen as editor’s choice are selected because of their medical or social importance for people with epilepsy and researchers in fields related to epilepsy.
Led by Professor Agnes Higgins of Trinity College Dublin, the research aimed to assess the role of Epilepsy Nurse Specialists in Ireland and their impact on the patients' quality of life. The study found that Epilepsy Nurse Specialist’s play a vital role in the life of a person with epilepsy and their families showing that they enhance a person’s understanding of their epilepsy and improve their confidence in managing their own condition. The entire findings from the study can be downloaded by visiting the 'Research' section of our website.
In commenting on why he selected this study as editor’s choice, Dr. Markus Reuber said “Of course, ENSs know a lot about seizures, but they are also ideally placed to fill the gaps in service provisions for non-seizure manifestations of epilepsy, which exist in many medically dominated epilepsy services. This qualitative study based on data from 12 ENSs, 24 multidisciplinary team members as well as 35 people with epilepsy and their family members captured working practices across five Irish epilepsy services.
“The findings indicate how crucial the support is which ESNs provide in terms of empowering people to self-manage their illness, performing comprehensive needs’ assessments, providing person-centred education, monitoring the impact of care and treatment, providing education to significant others and psychosocial care to optimise psychological wellness, co-ordinating care and quality assuring patient information. However the findings also show that, in order to function ESNs need to be embedded in and complemented by a multidisciplinary team. ESNs enhance medically oriented services they do not replace them. As such, this paper makes a useful addition to the evidence-base for ESN services..”
The full article of Dr. Reuber’s comments can be found by visiting the Seizure Journal website while the full study featured in Seizure can also be found by visiting the Seizure Journal website.
Our warmest congratulations to Professor Higgins and all the team involved for their fantastic work and the deserved acclaim it is receiving. This accolade reiterates the global quality of those working in Irish research and is a further acknowledgment of Epilepsy Ireland’s commitment to funding high quality research into epilepsy, its causes, treatments & potential cures.