Report from the Therapists in MS (TiMS) meeting at the MS Trust conference 2011
MS Trust Annual Conference, November 2011 Report from the Therapists in MS Meeting Sunday 13th November
Past Activity
Helen Sandell, neuro specialist OT and co-chair of the TiMS Network Working Group, gave an introduction to “Therapists in MS” and progress to date against the aims and objectives set by TiMS at its launch – Helen Sandell
Present Activity
Updates were prevented from the various Working Project Groups
Research Project Group - Jenny Freeman, Plymouth University
A new project on “Self Management of Sleep Disturbance” is to be undertaken based on the same “template” as the recent project of “Core Stability” that was undertaken; but with a broader focus on all therapies; rather than being physiotherapy specific. A clinical questionnaire was piloted and the final version given to all MS Trust conference attendees. It is hoped to present an abstract based around analysis of the questionnaires to the RIMS conference. Ethical approval for the project has been granted.
Education Project Group -Jenny Thain, MS Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist.
A dedicated TIMS Study Day on the topic of “pain” will be held in Bristol in January 2010 with the intention of repeating the event later, possibly in Newcastle. Discussion took place around potential dedicated “therapy” seminar sessions for next year’s 2012 MS Trust Conference. The “use of technology in rehabilitation” being a strong contender.
Network Group - Ros Edwards, MS Specialist OT
Updates and revisions of the website were shared. How the new discussion forum is working was described. Ros was also part of the Information Zone at conference, actively promoting the website. Members of the Network Working Group will increasingly take “ownership” and responsibility for providing input to and growth of the website
MS Specialist Masters level qualification
Michelle Ennis, University of Liverpool, reported on the development of the proposed MS specialist masters level qualification
Presentations What happened on Mount Ventoux? And "Move to Sport"
Speaker - Paul van Asch, President Move to Sport vzw – Belgium
What happened on Mount Ventoux?
The climbing of the Mount Ventoux, one of the most mythic mountains of the Tour de France, is something every cycling fanatic would aspire to. But what if MS appears? Individualisation being the key to success Paul showed how he and his team helped a person with MS to deal with this challenge.
"Move to Sport"
A multi-level programme that was started up in Flanders to promote physical activity in people with MS
The presentations were extremely well received and stimulated a lot of discussion. It is hoped that the TiMS Group will have further involvement to develop the programme in Great Britain
Future Activity
“Therapists in MS: delivering the long term solutions”
There are very few copies left in stock of the MSTrust/TiMS publication.. It is proposed that a new publication is produced, based on the information in the previous document but shorter and punchier, to use to influence new Clinical Commissioning Groups. Jane Nicklin, Helen Sandell, Christine Singleton and Pam Bostock will undertake this task. Following this, “Therapists in MS: delivering the long term solutions’ will be reviewed to see if any modifications are required.
Using the website
It was agreed that all members of the TiMS Network Working Group should have their “professional profile” details posted onto the TiMS on-line contact directory. All attendees at the meeting who are not on the contact directory were encouraged to go to the TiMS website www.therapists.org.uk and register. Whatever therapists’ level of expertise, they were encouraged to use the discussion forum
Mentoring the next generation
The idea that we need to concentrate on supporting the next generation of specialists by possibly setting up a mentoring network was discussed and in principle accepted. The idea will be explored further with a small number of the working group
RIMS
The meeting also agreed to actively seek ways of encouraging attendance of more UK therapists at the RIMS (Rehabilitation in MS) conferences. Therapists were reminded of the support available from the Therapists Education Bursary Fund
AOB
FES conference Christine Singleton highlighted for the meeting the 3rd Annual COnference of the UK and Ireland Chapter of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society (IFESSUK) to be held at the UNiversity of Birmingham in April 2012
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