Grupos de Intera？？o Social (GIS): estratégia de empowerment para pessoas com epilepsia

introduction: the management of epilepsy goes beyond seizure control. so, the social interaction groups (gis) is an alternative to this integrative approach in epilepsy. purpose: to carry out groups dynamics for health allied professional, social workers, and educators in order for them to use gis in their communities and for patients. methodology: we conducted two gis - with 21 professionals from social, education and health departments of city pedreira. we used validated questionnaires (self-esteem questionnaire, resilience questionnaire, social skills inventory and stigma scale of epilepsy) before and after the gis. results: the groups showed improvement in knowledge about epilepsy and allowed to share experiences and contribute to solidarity and sense of citizenship. in addition, the use of traditional chinese medicine has reinforced the holistic view of human being. the questionnaires used (pre and post-test) showed positive changes. conclusions: it was observed an improvement in all items evaluated, showing that subjects could improve their social skills and, consequently, their resilience. the application of gis is practical, with a low-cost operation and allows performance in other locations within other situations of chronic conditions that have similar epilepsy's impact.