The certain kinds of support that you may be able to access can include:
- Paid help at home with a carer help at home from a paid carer.
- Meals on wheels – a service available in England and Wales that brings your meals to your door.
- Household equipment, such as a commode, bed rails, reclining chairs and other items to aid dexterity and mobility.
- Home adaptations such as a stair lift, ramps, widened doorways, lowered kitchen counters, bath lifts or doors and even home security systems or personal alarms – which can enable you to call for help if you have a fall.
- You may also be able to explore different types of housing, should this be appropriate for you. This could include supported living services and care homes.
- These provisions may be paid with support from your local council or you may have to make a contribution yourself.
For financial help you may be entitled to various support such as PIP payments or Disability Living Allowance, Statutory Sick Pay or Employment Support Allowance. Much of this may depend on your personal circumstances.
For more help and advice see Living with Multiple Sclerosis on the NHS website.
Emotional support is a very important part of care for anyone including in MS, as living with a long-term and debilitating autoimmune condition can take its toll. Thankfully, we are talking about this more as a society, although there is still a lot of stigma present and mental health services are underfunded.
Maintaining your mental health can be challenging but support is available. Whether publicly funded, charitable or private, it can really help to know that you are not alone.
Charities such as the MS Society and MS Trust host trusted groups and helpline services for just these purposes to help people living with MS to find vital emotional support. You can also ask your GP or MS Nurse for further information on what practical support is available in your area.
MS Research is dedicated to researching better treatments and care to help the MS community. As well as providing funding for research into clinical trials on disease-modifying drugs and other physical treatments, we also support on-the-ground research to develop past where care and support are currently, to improve the daily lives of those dealing with this cruel auto-immune condition.
