In our line of work, improving the quality of life of our patients and family is the major challenge facing our organisation.  In Ethiopia, it is evident that the quality of life of people with epilepsy is worse than the condition’s clinical and medical prognosis would predict.  CareEpilepsy is concerned about the crucial components of wellbeing, including employment, social interactions, family relationships, individual perception of oneself and discusses how each factor applies to people living with epilepsy and tries to find a way to address epilepsy-specific factors such as stigma and comorbidity that contribute to low quality of life.  We provide a list of program-based approaches to improving quality of life, as well as practical recommendations for use by people living with epilepsy and their family.

Therefore, our wellbeing activities focus on the psycho-social and economic issues our beneficiaries face through rehabilitative services.

Our programmes include counselling, advice on living well with epilepsy, peer support group. Our counselling service equips them with techniques on how to live well and enjoy full active lives in spite of their condition.  We teach way as how to minimize secondary or tertiary handicaps.


Current Projects

Epilepsy Support Group

Empowering people with epilepsy to self-manage their condition and the impact of epilepsy on improving their overall well-being. Through training in life skills, vocational skills, and self-management skills and the use of “My Epilepsy Care” booklet, providing knowledge and skills about Epilepsy, and care planning which is a process containing goal setting and action planning.  Through this, we aim to enable people with Epilepsy to have the confidence, knowledge, skills, and support they need to manage their condition effectively. Creating peer-support groups help to strengthen people with Epilepsy cope with their condition, improve their sense of belonging, connect with people who have similar feelings or experiences, and build friendships.  Having social and recreational activities is a major contributory factor in living well with Epilepsy.


CareCraft

Unemployment in people with Epilepsy can be tackled by identifying and empowering entrepreneurs, whose small, emerging enterprises can be an effective means of job creation. Building livelihoods through microenterprises for people with Epilepsy is one of the remarkable ideas for developing sustainability, improving household income and creating jobs in the poorest regions of the world. Our programme aims to provide a holistic economic empowerment program that incorporates both economic and social development. It strives towards economic sustainability through the production of quality products and sound business principles and practice. Patients will produce low-cost consumer items such as rugs, basket weaving, and jewellery. These rehabilitation programs are expected to promote a supportive educational environment within which people with Epilepsy can develop a positive sense of self and independence and take and maintain their place in society as productive citizens.


Crafts

CareEpilepsy aims to assist people with Epilepsy to make and sell their crafts, both at and beyond lodges, and at newly built crafts markets adjacent to highways travelled by tourists.


Skills Training

Effective skills for life, vocational skills, and self-management skills training programs are essential to the rural development and are a result of active community involvement and ownership of the process, along with access to appropriate resources for training. CareEpilepsy sponsors groups of people with epilepsy members in intensive three-month training courses in Addis Ababa. The program teaches skills such as rug making, dressmaking, basket weaving, jewellery artwork etc. Participants are selected through their local hospital and include men and women of various ages. They arrive unemployed and semi-skilled but leave with basic levels in all skills. 


Counselling

CareEpilepsy provides counselling service which is a dedicated service for children and adults. It provides practical advice and information about living with epilepsy and helps people with epilepsy to develop healthy thoughts about life with epilepsy.  We will use trained volunteer counsellors to see people with epilepsy and their families.


Upcoming Projects

Wolafen Project (searching for funding)

Domestic incidents are the primary reason for serious burn injuries in the lives of people with epilepsy in Ethiopia. The use of an open fire for cooking and heating remains a serious problem. Nonfatal burns are a leading cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalization, disfigurement, and disability, often with resulting stigma and rejection for those with a generalized tonic-clonic seizure where they lose consciousness. Women are at a higher risk compared to men, mainly associated with their social responsibility.


Agriculture Project (searching for funding)

This is an income generating project which aims to reduce poverty and discourage street begging through agricultural projects such as crop farming and assistance with development of vegetable gardens. 

 


 

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