As part of our ongoing effort to make sure we address the needs of all the children we serve, we are honored to be part of the Youth Advisory Committee for HOBSCOTCH-Youth, a forthcoming program based on Home Based Self-Management & Cognitive Training Changes Lives (HOBSCOTCH).
HOBSCOTCH is designed to help people with memory and cognitive challenges commonly associated with epilepsy. The program is:
- an evidence-based self-management and cognitive training program developed and tested by Dartmouth College researchers as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Managing Epilepsy Well (MEW) Network, a team of people who care about people with epilepsy and their caregivers;
- an 8-week behavioral program that helps participants develop skills to manage and cope with memory and thinking challenges;
- delivered to participants one-on-one by trained and certified Cognitive Coaches;
- a program that includes participant education, self-awareness training, problem-solving therapy, compensatory memory strategy tools, and mindfulness exercises;
- telehealth (web and telephone) delivered across the United States and beyond;
- an adjunct to medical care that significantly improves quality of life and addresses cognitive dysfunction.
HOBSCOTCH-Youth is currently under development to extend the benefits of the HOBSCOTCH program to teens (ages 13-18). We are thrilled to be the national patient organization providing parent and youth feedback to the developers of this vital youth-focused epilepsy self-management and cognitive training program.
As part of our work helping build this program, we seek participants for two sessions with Dartmouth’s HOBSCOTCH Institute to learn about progress of the youth adaption program in development. If you have a teen aged 13-18 with active epilepsy either before or after epilepsy surgery, you are invited to participate. (Teens who are seizure-free, and their parents, are invited to participate as well.)
The sessions will be held on the afternoon of Monday, July 26, 2021 (time to be announced next month)
Please email our Director of Patient and Family Advocacy, Audrey Vernick, at avernick@brainrecoveryproject.org to register for this opportunity to help shape this meaningful program for youth with epilepsy, or if you have any questions.
about the author
Audrey Vernick is our Director of Patient and Family Advocacy. She is the parent of a child who had hemispherectomy for seizures caused by stroke. She holds a level 2 certification in Special Education Advocacy Training from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates and is certified by The ARC in future planning. She also serves on the International League Against Epilepsy’s Social Work and Social Services Section.
