Table 1.

Aspects of an education program for people with multiple sclerosis[72]

Personal Concerns

What can I expect?

Is my life in danger?

How did I get this disease?

Can I give it anyone else (contagious, genetics)?

Are there parts of me I can trust?

Medical information

What can I do to stay healthy?

What treatments are available to decrease the disease?

How do I evaluate treatments-established and claimed?

What medical resources can I take advantage of?

What are the rationales and side effects of symptomatic treatments?

What new physical skills do I need?

When do I call my health care providers for help?

Adjustment skills

What makes me wothwhile if I cannot do what I used to do?

How do I ask for help without becoming dependent?

How do I communicate my feelings and concerns to others?

Why should I work so hard when I may get worse anyway?

How do I cope with this disease over the next fifty years?

Realistic life planning

What community resources are available to me?

What kind of work can I do?

Should I have any more children?

What will I do if I become bedridden?

What will I do if I become wheelchair bound?

What will I do if I become unable to walk very far?

What will I do if I become unable to jog?

What will I do if I become nothing different from what I am now?