Workshop 1

Chronic care in Europe
Wednesday 06 October 2010 09:00–12:00

Benchmarking Quality: Best practices in efficient care of Multiple Sclerosis - the growing role of nurses

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive auto-immune disease that affects hundreds of thousands of Europeans, many of them in the prime of their lives. Impact on families (social burden), health systems and employment can be profound. MS is a prism through which we can explore policy approaches to chronic disease due to its complexity. The question for policy makers and health care systems alike is this: How can we empower the patients to efficiently manage their disease, thereby improving outcomes and decreasing burden on public funds?

This workshop will discuss sustainable solutions from a public and private perspective. Nurses specialised in the management of MS have a key role to play – ensuring access to medications, advocating for patients' rights and coordinating care. Enacting policies that recognise nursing’s key role will be a focus of the workshop. 

• Results of the MS-NEED survey of MS nurses
• Feedback from national roundtable meetings on best practice MS care
• The role of the specialised nurse in efficient disease management for MS
• Insights from employers and insurers on expanding workplace access for MS patients
• The EU policy landscape and opportunities to enhance recognition for specialised nurses

Organised by European Multiple Sclerosis Platform and supported by an educational grant from Novartis Pharma AG