In the United States, over 14 million children, roughly 5% of the
population, suffer from Pediatric Neurological Conditions (PNCs). Researchers
from the Pediatric Brain Foundation, in an attempt to shed more light on this
important issue and catalogue some information regarding awareness of PNCs,
disseminated a survey to the Central New Jersey area, known as the NeuroSurvey.
The follow-up analysis on the results of the aforementioned survey are
contained within this report. The NeuroSurvey specifically focuses on responses
from individuals of high-school and college age, and then further analyzes
these results to evaluate awareness and propensity for PNC advocacy through a
multitude of areas including, but not limited to, knowledge of conditions,
media representation, and political advocacy. Although most respondents were
more likely to take up advocacy after being exposed to someone with a PNC and
nearly 68% believe that more representation is necessary in the media, most
respondents (90%) were not familiar with the vast majority (24 of 30) PNCs,
exposing large gaps in the scope of awareness. In general, individuals are
willing to learn more and in turn, advocate, but lack simple and convenient
methods for increasing the knowledge needed to advocate.
