Teachers perception about epilepsy

Abstract

-Purpose: To identify in a town of Brazil the knowledge, attitude and perception of epilepsy in teachers of elementary schools and to compare these before and after a training exerc i s e . M e t h o d s :Teachers of nine public schools of Barão Geraldo, Campinas, Brazil completed a questionnaire. Tw o researchers had meetings with teachers, presenting the Global Campaign "Epilepsy out of the shadows", when the questionnaire was first completed by all attendees. Twenty teachers of these schools were motivated to attend a training course entitled "Epilepsy and Health" as part of their continuous education programme. Two years later the same questionnaire was again completed (post-test) by these 20 teachers. Results: 100 teachers originally completed the questionnaire (97 women, mean age 42 years, 64 marr i e d ) . F o rt y -t h ree percent of teachers said that they had enough knowledge re g a rding epilepsy and 20% said that they had poor knowledge about the condition. Regarding the IQ of children with epilepsy, 45% of teachers believed that they had average IQ, 18% above average, six percent under average and 29% did not know. Teachers believed that children with epilepsy have a higher possibility of acquiring mental disease in the future (51%); that epilepsy is a disease (68%); that epilepsy is contagious (1%); epilepsy is tre a table (90%). After the course, the teachers' beliefs seem to have impro v e d . Discussion: This work with e l e m e n t a ry school teachers identified difficulties related to epilepsy which, if addressed, may help promote better quality of life of people with epilepsy in the community and help to decrease stigma attached to the condition. Better informed teachers are likely to have a more positive attitude and this will be passed to others. Educational campaigns about epilepsy amongst teachers should be encouraged as this may improve the management of epilepsy, by helping to develop a well informed and tolerant community.KEY WORDS: epilepsy, stigma, school, teachers.Percepção de professores sobre epilepsia RESUMO -Objetivo: Identificar atitudes e percepção dos pro f e s s o res do ensino fundamental a respeito da epilepsia, antes e depois de um curso específico sobre o tema. Método: P a rticiparam da pesquisa pro f e ssores de nove escolas da rede pública do ensino fundamental de Barão Geraldo, distrito de Campinas, SP. Dois pesquisadores reuniram-se com os pro f e s s o res e apresentaram a Campanha Global "Epilepsia fora das sombras", momento também em que os questionários foram aplicados. Vinte pro f e s s o res ficaram motivados para fazer o curso de extensão "Temas transversais: epilepsia e saúde". Após este curso, os questionários foram re -a p l i c a d o s . Resultados: Foram aplicados 100 questionários em pro f e s s o res das nove escolas, sendo que: noventa e sete professores eram do sexo feminino, idade média de 42 (D.P. 22 a 63) e 64 estavam casados. Quarenta e três pro f e s s o res declararam possuir conhecimento sobre epilepsia abaixo da média e 20, disseram ...

School Teachers’ Knowledge about Epilepsy in Kathmandu Metropolitan City

“…39 Similarly number of secondary level teacher were 76 and out of them 38.2% have poor knowledge, whereas on similar study carried out among 269 school teachers randomly selected from various secondary schools in Osogbo, the Osun State capital in South-West Nigeria, about 70% of the teachers reported their general knowledge of epilepsy is lower than half of total score. 40 A survey conducted among one hundred teachers of nine public schools of Brazil, 20% accepted that they had a poor knowledge regarding epilepsy, 41 where as in our study it is very high (47.9%). Large number of poor knowledge regarding epilepsy in Nepal is due to less public health awareness program with focus on epilepsy and least number of teachers training program on Health Education.…”

Epilepsy and stigma: An update and critical review

“…Almost all workers recognized that epilepsy was noncontagious and required long-term treatment, and that good treatments were available; however, only two thirds recognized epilepsy as a disorder of the brain. Similarly, Fernandes et al [ 43 ] found that a formal educational program could increase knowledge and improve attitudes among school teachers toward their pupils with epilepsy. Despite these encouraging fi ndings, the possibility persists that such infl uential others could act as what has been referred to as "stigma coaches."…”

“…The studies of the attitudes of members of the general public discussed here originate from Brazil, Canada, Laos, Pakistan, Turkey, and Zambia. In Brazil, a study examined attitudes held by members of the public [ 41 , 42 ], teachers [ 43 ], and secondary school students [ 44 ]. To undertake this program, a new scale was developed and validated.…”

“…Studies focusing on particular population subgroups include those by Chomba et al [ 48 ] and Fernandes et al [ 43 ]. Chomba et al [ 48 ] examined knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of health care workers in Zambia as part of a series of studies that also involved the attitudes of teachers [ 49 ], clerics [ 50 ], and police offi cers [ 51 ].…”

Demonstration project on epilepsy in Brazil - WHO/ILAE/IBE global campaign against epilepsy: a foreword

“…The training courses were divided into three modules, for health professionals; trainers (a rticle 2: Training the trainers and disseminating inform a t i o n : a strategy to educate health professionals on epileps y 1 4 -and a rticle 3: Training medical students to i m p rove the management of people with epilepsy 1 5 ) and teachers (a rticle 4: Teachers perception about epilepsy 16 ). The health professional training courses p romote confidence in dealing with patients with e p i l e p s y, better knowledge about the condition, fewer wrong beliefs and myths about epilepsy, more knowledge about dealing with AEDs and less referral to neurologists.…”