The lifelong autoimmune disease affects more than 150,000 people living in the UK
A new King’s Doctoral Training Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London (KCL) has been launched to investigate symptom management for multiple sclerosis (MS) without using drugs.
Funded by the MS Society, the new training centre will help treat symptoms including pain, sexual difficulties and psychological distress for MS patients who find it challenging to access non-drug treatments.
Affecting more than 150,000 people in the UK, MS is a lifelong autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It can lead to a wide range of potential symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.
Currently, drug treatments are available to help individuals living with the condition prevent relapses and slow down progression. However, for some, these drugs can have side effects and do not work for everyone.
The new training centre has recruited three PhD students to develop and test digital health interventions for MS, which will sit on a single digital platform called My MS Digital Symptom Toolkit.
The platform will enable people living with the condition to gain access to support for different symptoms in the same place, while making it easier for healthcare professionals to refer people to non-drug treatments.
The centre, which is also being supported by a digital health solution company, Avegen, aims to work with a patient and public involvement (PPI) group comprising people living with MS to oversee and add input into the work of the centre.
Rona Moss-Morris, co-lead of the Doctoral Training Centre and professor, psychology as applied to medicine, KCL’s IoPPN, commented: “We’re incredibly excited to be working in partnership with Avegen, the MS Society and people with MS on this project.
“Creating evidence-based digital interventions to enhance integrated care for people with challenging long-term conditions like MS is core to our mission.”