In recognition of the 51,000 Native Americans living with active epilepsy in the United States, the Epilepsy Foundation is raising much-needed awareness during National Native American Heritage Month (November) and Native American Heritage Day (November 27, 2020).
By working with the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Health Board, a former executive of the Indian Health Service, and Native American media outlets, the Epilepsy Foundation’s Multicultural Outreach Program has established a culturally appropriate and relevant outreach campaign to increase epilepsy and Seizure First Aid education among Native and Indigenous communities.
This month’s campaign includes information about Seizure First Aid and translated Seizure First Aid posters in Navajo, Cherokee, and Lakota.
In addition, the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper is publishing the Seizure First Aid poster in Cherokee and the “Epilepsy and COVID-19 Awareness for Native Americans” article on November 16.
Check out the article in the online edition!
The Cherokee Phoenix and Navajo Times have posted a Seizure First Aid digital ad on their websites to encourage more Cherokee, Navajo, and Indigenous communities to learn Seizure First Aid.
Also, on November 16, the Native America Calling radio show featured the following guests to discuss Native American health and epilepsy:
“It gets easier. Every time you tell someone you have epilepsy a little bit of the embarrassment fades away. You have to make sure that multiple people know Seizure First Aid so they can help at any time that you have a seizure,” said Jolee Mitchell.
The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives.
