Access to justice in the light of everyday problems and prejudice: A pilot study on the experiences of people with epilepsy in Finland.

Purpose

The aim of this socio-legal pilot study is to gain insight into the access to justice for people with epilepsy in Finland by identifying the everyday problems experienced by them. Stigma, prejudice and their impact on the lives of people with epilepsy has been widely documented in the literature. Thus, we also wanted to explore whether there is a link between reported everyday problems and perceived prejudice.

Methods

In the first phase of the study, court cases were used to describe the everyday problems of people with epilepsy in Finland. In the second phase, descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the survey data collected from adults with epilepsy in Finland (n = 237).

Results

Based on only a few existing court cases, the problems faced by people with epilepsy seem to be similar to those faced by other groups of people with disabilities. The most common problems reported by our survey respondents were related to healthcare services (73 %) and work (54 %), followed by family (25 %), mistreatment (25 %), housing (24 %) and goods and services (19 %). Both having refractory epilepsy and perceived prejudice seem to be linked with experiencing everyday problems.

Conclusion

The results of this pilot study on the everyday problems experienced by people with epilepsy suggest that there are various gaps in their access to justice, even in a developed EU country like Finland.

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