Epilepsy self-help groups: collaboration with professionals

Two sequential cases of professional-self-help/mutual aid collaboration are described. The first was a federally funded demonstration project to develop epilepsy self-help groups in 15 cities. It involved a "mixed strategy" of national and local collaboration, where decision-making, and problem solving was vested in persons with epilepsy. The second related case was the "action learning workshop" that combined research with extension work. Knowledge about self-help group development and persons with epilepsy was advanced at the same time that a national network and alliance of epilepsy self-help groups was developed.