Living well with MS – Raising the Bar workstream
The healthy lifestyle and social determinants of health workstreams have been merged
Background social determinants of health
After an initial meeting in 2018 to discuss service variance in MS, clinicians across the country agreed to a national plan to raise the bar for MS over the coming years.
To make sure that ‘no patient is left behind’, addressing the social determinants of health in people with MS is a must.
Background healthy lifestyle
There is increasing evidence that we need to look at a wider picture of a person’s health, wellness and lifestyle, including nutrition, movement, sleep and stress.
In MS, we know that:
- stress can trigger relapse,
- movement can improve MS fatigue better than medication,
- quality sleep aids cognition, mood, immune health and autophagy
- eating non-processed, natural food is linked to improved mental and physical health across a range of conditions (e.g. SMILES)
The challenge of how we can share this information well, and encourage people with MS to take control of their lifestyles is becoming an essential aspect of treatment, not solely self-management.
How can I get involved?
The workstream has developed a survey to gauge current healthcare practitioners’ engagement with SDoH in their work with people with MS. This is an area of health which affects us all. Please complete the survey to help gather the data needed to affect change.
Complete the healthy lifestyle survey to help us understand how often general health checks and lifestyle and wellness discussions form part of your work with MS patients.
Establish a ‘disease-modifying lifestyle’ clinic in your locality. All the resources you need to begin either a virtual or in-person clinic are there.
If you decide to use the resources to run a clinic, please let us know.
Meet the workstream leads
Dr Helen Ford
Consultant Neurologist
Dr Saúl Reyes
MS Fellow, Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The London NHS Trust
Prof Gavin Giovannoni
Professor of Neurology, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Dr Agne Straukiene
Consultant Neurologist, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
Charlie Peel
Health Writer, Neurology Academy
Dr Colin Bannon
Retired GP and honorary doctor with MS himself
Other workstream members
Colin Bannon, Grazina Berry, Samantha Josephs, Miranda Sweet, Daisy Cam, Patricia Henry, Andrea Stennett, Anna Hawkins, Leonora Fisniku, Caroline Holbrook, Sarah Dronfield, Dom Thorpe, William Adams, Mathew Sweet, Diana Crowe
Find out more
'No person left behind': the current situation and a vision for the future
Posted in Knowledge
