Background/Purpose: Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a common neurological condition associated with disability, psychiatric comorbidity, stigma, fragmented care, and high healthcare utilization. Despite growing evidence supporting FND treatment, inconsistent diagnostic communication and limited provider education remain major barriers to engagement and continuity of care. This project aimed to design a multi-sector communication strategy to improve diagnostic understanding, reduce stigma, strengthen referral pathways, and support sustainable care delivery within an academic FND clinic.
Methods: Using principles from the Health Belief Model, stigma theory, and implementation science, a multi-level communication intervention was developed for six stakeholder sectors: patients, caregivers, referring providers, behavioral health clinicians, administrators, and payers. Materials were designed to align with real-world clinical workflows and included standardized diagnostic scripts, patient-facing educational materials, provider referral guides, transition-of-care toolkits, executive briefs, and a proposed website redesign. A pragmatic evaluation framework was developed to assess patient-, provider-, and system-level outcomes using pre/post implementation measures.
Results: The intervention established a standardized communication ecosystem designed to improve diagnostic clarity, reduce stigmatizing language, increase treatment engagement, and support continuity of care following participation in a 12-week Multimodal Adapted Psychotherapy (MAP) program. Planned evaluation metrics include diagnostic understanding, provider confidence, referral appropriateness, treatment engagement, and healthcare utilization indicators.
Implications: This project positions communication as a scalable public health intervention capable of improving engagement and reducing fragmentation in complex neurological conditions. The model demonstrates how interdisciplinary communication strategies can strengthen integrated behavioral health systems, improve equity in access to specialty care, and support sustainable implementation within academic healthcare settings.
