Training
An important way to improve safety and quality of life for people with epilepsy is to make sure that professionals such as school nurses and other school staff, law enforcement, first responders, and childcare workers understand epilepsy and how to offer first aid.
Click on the expandable sections below to learn about the training programs that are available for specific professions.
School Nurses
Seizure Training for School Nurses: Caring for Students
School nurses play an important role in recognizing and managing seizures at school. This program provides school nurses the knowledge and skills they need to provide care to students with epilepsy, and also to train other school staff. The course provides nurses with 2.75 FREE CNE Continuing Education Credits.
This program provides the school nurse with information and resources to better care for students with psychogenic seizures. It provides 1.0 FREE CNE Continuing Education Credits.
Seizure Training for School Nurses: Using Rescue Therapies in Epilepsy Care (On Demand)
This program provides the school nurse with a better understanding of rescue therapies for seizures, and how they may be used to support students with epilepsy.
Teachers and Staff
Epilepsy Foundation’s Seizure Training for School Personnel (On Demand)
This program provides teachers and other school personnel with the knowledge and skills needed to recognize seizures, respond with appropriate first aid, and understand the impact seizures have on students. It is for elementary, middle, and secondary school staff, including teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers, security guards, custodians, or other school staff that may come in contact with students.
Epilepsy Alliance America’s On-Demand Seizure First Aid Training for School Personnel
This Seizure Recognition and First Aid Training was developed for all school personnel – teachers, administrators, nurses, drivers, coaches, aides, custodians – to learn the basics of epilepsy and how to recognize and respond to a seizure.
Marijuana Use in Adolescent Populations
This online training improves the knowledge of school staff about marijuana perceptions and usage among adolescent populations. This training is offered through the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units and offers free continuing education credits upon full completion.
Project UPLIFT Training for Mental Health Professionals
Project UPLIFT (Using Practice and Learning to Increase Favorable Thoughts) is a home-based program designed to treat depression in people with epilepsy. Based upon Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression, the program significantly reduces symptoms of depression. The goal is to recruit and train at least one licensed mental health professionals from each of the 50 states. The training is conducted during a one-hour conference call that meets once a week for 10 weeks. The training is free and offers free continuing education credits upon full completion.
PEARLS Depression Intervention Training
PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives) is a highly effective, home-based program designed to reduce depression and improve quality of life in adults with epilepsy. PEARLS uses a team-based approach, involving PEARLS counselors, supervising psychiatrists, and medical providers. A 2-day training session is offered throughout the year in Seattle, Washington that equips all members of a PEARLS team – including counselors and administrators – to implement the program successfully in their organization. Licensed social workers, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors are eligible for professional credit.
Mental Health and Wellness in Epilepsy
This free online training helps health professionals who treat people with epilepsy to identify the risk of suicide and objectively examine quality of life challenges. This course is provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Employee Education System, and the VA Epilepsy Center of Excellence, and offers free continuing education credits upon full completion.
Recognizing Imitators of Epilepsy
This free online training gives health care providers an introduction to the clinical approach to differential diagnosis of seizures. It also includes a more in depth discussion on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, syncope, movement disorders that may imitate seizures, and other common imitators. The course is provided by the VA Epilepsy Center of Excellence and offers free continuing education credits upon full completion.
Seizure Recognition and First Aid
The Epilepsy Foundation offers multiple choices for free, online seizure recognition and first aid programs that anyone can take to learn how to recognize a seizure, provide first aid, and when to call for help.