Spring is here again and so is National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Education and Awareness Month, a national campaign by the Multiple Sclerosis Federation (MSF). Events throughout March mark the Foundation’s efforts to raise public awareness about the disease and to assist the more than 450,000 Americans who have MS in making informed decisions about their health. MSF promotes a “whole-person” approach to the condition, with many of its efforts oriented toward families.
Kasey Minnis, MSF director of operations and the head of the National MS Education and Awareness Month committee, told The O&P EDGE that during March, MSF will provide for anyone who requests it a free MS-awareness kit that contains fact sheets “designed to be of interest to patients, family members, healthcare workers, media, and the community at large.” The kits also include suggestions for using the information and sharing it with others.
MSF has hosted and will continue to host throughout March regional events and teleconferences, many of them oriented toward couples and families. Minnis said, for example, that recent Awareness Month events have included an informational teleconference for couples and regional family-fun days. She called the family outings “great events” where families come together for playtime, lunch, and an information presentation about MS by a physician, “where you can see even very little kids sitting still and clearly taking things in about the disease.”
For more information, visit www.msfocus.org/programs_edumth_2009.php
