TalkEpilepsy
The public education and awareness program remain our primary pillar of intervention and it is aimed at the promotion of inclusion in education, the workplace, and the community.
This program aims to mobilize communities to help raise awareness and change social norms and community perception of epilepsy. This will reduce discrimination and stigma experienced by people with epilepsy and ensure they are not perceived as somewhat abnormal. The project will utilize the persuasive power of the media to influence attitudes and reduce the stigma associated with epilepsy. This is expected to encourage people with epilepsy to seek medical care and increase social acceptability.
Our activities include:
- Establishing ‘School Epilepsy Champions’ and ‘Employer Epilepsy Champions’ initiatives for the inclusion of people with epilepsy in education and employment.
- Organizing teaching sessions to educate people with epilepsy of the risks of untreated seizure, prevention, and the causes and consequences of epilepsy.
- producing leaflets which provide information about epilepsy and living with epilepsy. This is be printed in Amharic, Tigrinya and Oromo (widely spoken Ethiopian languages) and English.
- Develop community outreach programs, involving faith leaders and traditional healers.
- Organize educational campaigns using the mass media and social media designed for the public. These include print (newspaper, pamphlets), electronic (TV, Radio, DVD), and new-age (the internet, mobile) media.