MS awareness week 2023
Let your MS feelings out for the magnificent seven multiple sclerosis charities championing MS Awareness Week 2023!
The seven UK charities heading #MSWeek this year work wonders for people impacted by MS – as can neuro occupational therapy! (More on that below *)
But now the charities are wondering if people impacted by MS can help them - by backing the week’s #MSMakesMe campaign and letting others know how MS makes them feel.
So, who are the super seven MS champions? And how are they helping individuals and families whose lives involve an MS diagnosis?
Let’s take a closer look at them as they join forces for the first time to bring a whole new feeling to the UK’s MS Awareness Week from the 24th of April, 2023...
MS Society
Does MS make you scream, feel brave, tired, positive, worried for the future, or hopeful? We know it's different for everyone. 
MS Society [1]
As well as providing its support for people impacted by MS, the MS Society spearheads campaigns [2] to improve MS healthcare services UK-wide.
Current campaigns, in addition to #MSMakesMe, include:
- Help fix PIP – the charity says the Government “still don’t have the plan to fix the problems” with Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for long-term health conditions that make daily living activities more challenging to do.
- MS: Enough – the charity says the welfare system is not set up to recognise how invisible MS symptoms, such as fatigue and pain, come and go.
More about the MS Society and MS Awareness Week here: [1]
MS Therapy Centres
Our member centres deliver life-enhancing therapies for people with MS and other neurological or long-term medical conditions.
MS Therapy Centres [4]
There are currently 50 MS National Therapy Centres in the UK. They support over 15,000 people weekly and provide over 20 therapies to help manage MS symptoms.
Therapies include oxygen therapy, physiotherapy, and counselling. And there are complementary therapies such as:
- Reflexology
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Mindfulness
- Music/Sound Therapy [3]
More about MS National Therapy Centres here: [4]
MS Together
We enable connections to be made [...], and we empower people to share their stories, advocate for themselves and live their best lives, despite their MS.
MS Together [5]
With a special but not exclusive focus on people aged 18 to 35 years with MS, the advice and support group MS Together provides a safe platform for mutual support.
Members can meet online or in person and share their MS stories and support strategies.
More about MS Together here: [5]
MS Trust
We produce practical, reliable, evidence-based information [...] covering a whole range of topics, from lifestyle tips to MS symptoms...
MS Trust [6]
Marking its 30th birthday in 2023, the MS Trust provides an award-wining information service that includes guidance for MS healthcare professionals.
It also funds specialist 'champions' across the UK to provide guidance, support and coordinated care for the estimated 40,000 people living with advanced MS in the UK.
More about the MS Trust here: [6]
MS-UK
MS-UK is here for anyone affected by multiple sclerosis to empower them to live healthier and happier lives [...] and provide support where needed most.
MS-UK [7]
Another 30-year-old this year is MS-UK which prides itself in leading the way in promoting choice for people diagnosed with MS to live life their way.
That includes decisions over treatments, therapies, and lifestyle changes, “a mixture of these, or none at all”.
More about MS-UK here: [7]
Overcoming MS
Our vision is a world in which living a whole and healthy life with MS is possible for everyone.
Overcoming MS [8]
Supporting people in the UK, Australia and the USA, Overcoming MS offers healthy lifestyle guidance through an evidence-based self-management plan.
The plan involves holistic self-care and medical therapies for people with MS to “change their risk of deterioration through lifestyle choices.”
More about Overcoming MS here: [8]
Shift. MS
A diagnosis of MS can [...] strike in the prime of life, just when we're making key decisions about relationships, family, lifestyle & careers.
Shift.MS [9]
They were founded in 2009 “by MSers, for MSers”, Shift.MS supports recently diagnosed people globally as they learn to manage their MS symptoms from day to day.
Its free online community enables support through social networking. It also helps to reduce isolation and increase confidence in adapting to life with MS.
More about Shift. MS here: [9]
*Neuro OT for MS
Our neuro occupational therapists are skilled in supporting people with MS to live whole and active life.
They understand that symptoms can differ from one person to another and impact daily activities differently.
They can provide support and solutions to ease living with a neurological condition and the worry that symptoms may worsen.
They can also help when MS causes challenges involving:
- The way someone thinks, feels or acts
- Their ability to do the things they need or want to do
- Friends, family and other relationships
- Movement or co-ordination
- Muscle weakness or tremor
- Vision or speech
- Fatigue, dizziness or pain
- Bladder, bowel or sexual function
What is MS?
Multiple sclerosis causes damage to the nervous system. This affects its ability to carry messages between the brain and body.
The outcomes of an MS diagnosis differ depending on which nerves are affected.
Multiple sclerosis can present in different ways:
- Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) – symptoms start or worsen (relapse) and then improve for a time (remit). This can develop into...
- Secondary progressive MS - symptoms get worse steadily over time.
- Primary progressive MS – different symptoms appear over time and worsen gradually. But there may be times when they aren’t worsening.
More about MS
According to a report compiled by the MS Society, ‘MS in the UK’ [10]:
- MS affects around 130,000 people in the UK or one person in every 500
- On average, there are around 130 MS diagnoses every week
- An estimated 2.3 million people live with MS worldwide
Further reading
‘The most reported conditions were multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraine, hydrocephalus, and Tourette syndrome...’
Find out about the petition plea for a UK task force to tackle the ‘urgent’ needs of the neuro community.
Turning to craft helped turn life with MS around for Scottish-born OT Alice McCall Smith ... Crafts to support neurological occupational therapy and brain injury rehabilitation.
Catch up on some of the latest MS research in the OT reality of virtual vocational rehabilitation (VR) and other research updates in supporting workers with neurological conditions.
How a childhood passion and emerging scientific evidence helped one celebrated artist to manage her MS symptoms... Vivid lived experiences of brain injury and chronic illness by Ananya Rao Middleton.
Recently on Talking Heads...
We are passionate about neurological rehabilitation. Our neuro OT blog is a means to share our collective wisdom to influence, educate and spark moments of discussion and reflection.
If you are interested in or have been affected by brain injury, or are passionate about occupational therapy, brain injury and neurological rehabilitation, you are very welcome… come on in and join us!
