Holistic Well-Being of Students with Epilepsy: A Qualitative Understanding Through the Interaction Between School, Family, and Healthcare

Abstract

Introduction: Epilepsy may affect students’ physical, emotional, social, and academic well-being and requires responses beyond clinical seizure control. Purpose: To understand the integral well-being of a student with epilepsy from the perspectives of actors involved in family, educational, and health support. Materials and methods: A qualitative interpretive case study with a hermeneutic orientation was conducted, focusing on the perceptions of three key informants involved in the family, educational, and health support of a student with epilepsy. The participants were the student’s mother, a school counselor from the Student Welfare Department, and a neurologist. Data were collected through one semi-structured interview with each informant, based on two generative questions. The analysis included repeated reading, identification of units of meaning, initial and axial coding, categorization, hermeneutic interpretation, and source triangulation. Results: Twenty-four codes, 12 subcategories, and four categories were identified: Integral well-being of the student with epilepsy; Shared responsibility among school, family, and health care; Inclusion and awareness processes; and Transdisciplinary articulation. Conclusion: In the case studied, integral well-being was understood as a multidimensional phenomenon supported by safety, socio-emotional support, communication, inclusion, and coordination among the actors involved. The findings reflect the perceptions of three informants and are specific to the case; therefore, they should not be generalized to all students with epilepsy.