Grant: Knowledge Translation Supplement

From 2007 to 2009 our Montreal-based research team was funded by CIHR for an epidemiological study of outcomes and life impact of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a focus on gender differences. Advances in the neuro-imaging has meant that people are now diagnosed with MS or related syndrome much earlier in the disease course than decades previously and the development of new therapeutics has altered somewhat the destructive nature of this condition. Previously, one of the most feared diagnoses, MS is now considered a disease one can live with. The purpose of this end-of-grant Knowledge Translation (KT) project is to develop a self-management guide - Getting on with Your Life with MS Workbook - based on the research findings from our CIHR grant and an update of the existing literature. We have already prepared drafts of 10 work sheets and an additional 12 are in the planning stages. Two are sufficiently advanced that they are being prepared for transmission in one of the MS clinics waiting rooms. The specific activities to be carried out for the development of the Knowledge Tool: Getting on with Your Life with MS Workbook: (i) refinement of all worksheets; (ii) interviews with experts and people with MS for suggestions for other worksheets; (iii) content and format feedback from people with MS and other key MS stakeholders; and (iv) preparation of a professional-quality print version prototype to be used to create different versions (Personalized agenda, CD, DVD, Pod-Casts) for different uses.