Making information on caregiving more accessible

Caregivers play a vital role in the lives of people with MS, but being a caregiver has its own challenges. Many family caregivers volunteer their time to help with the care needs of a loved one. Going from being a partner, family member, friend or child to also being a caregiver can impact your relationship. Caregivers need to be recognised and supported.*

The MS Society of India (MSSI) launched their ‘Guide for MS Caregivers’ on World MS Day 2021. Caregiving was one of the priority topics identified by MSIF members in a global survey on information gaps. That’s why MSIF launched a global adaptation of the MSSI caregivers guide this February. The adaptation is available to download in Spanish and Arabic, and the original guide is available in English, Urdu and Telugu.

The resource gives informative, practical advice about caring for a person with MS. There are wellbeing tips for caregivers to help avoid burn-out and alleviate stress. The guide is especially useful to anyone new to a caregiving role.

About the resource

In order to make the guide accessible and internationally relevant, MSIF worked with MSSI to shorten the original and remove country specific information. The adaptation covers seven key topics, including:

• Types of caregivers
• New vs Long-Term caregivers
• Contingencies and financial planning
• Care management
• Mental wellbeing
• Physical wellbeing
• Quality of life

Wellbeing for caregivers

One important element of the guide is practical tips for wellbeing. Caregivers can feel stressed and overwhelmed when juggling care related tasks. The guide provides advice on how caregivers can maintain their quality of life by focusing on their physical and mental health. Here is a quick look at some of the recommendations.

Download now!

For more information on caregiving, download the ‘Guide for MS Caregivers’ today. All five languages can be found and downloaded on the MS Resource Hub here.

Translating the guide

If you are an MSIF member organisation and would like to translate this guide for use in your country, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Email info@msif.org for more information.

We are grateful to our colleagues at MSSI for sharing this important resource and collaborating to translate and adapt this guide for international use.

*Text in first paragraph is from MSSI’s ‘Guide for MS Caregivers’.