One of the most important pillars of social care is independence, and the right home care team can help to balance the ability for someone to do whatever they like without the difficulties that can come with managing a disability or medical condition.
This can be particularly important for helping loved ones with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, which can affect people in very different ways and can have flare-ups and remissions that can require varying levels of care at different times.
With April marking MS Awareness Week, it is important to explore how domiciliary care teams help to support people who have MS, how it can affect people in different ways and why empowering independence is so important to a high quality of life.
What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a lifelong central nervous system condition caused when the protective myelin coating around individual nerves is damaged.
It is caused when your immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, a fat and protein layer that wraps around your nerves and ensures that they activate and function as expected.
The coating acts like an insulating layer similar in function to the rubber coating of an electrical wire, and when it is damaged, it can have similarly unpredictable results depending on the parts of the brain and nervous system that MS affects.
Everyone with MS has different symptoms, but people commonly experience:
- Numbness.
- Tingling or ‘pins and needles’ sensations.
- Extreme tiredness and fatigue.
- Blurred vision, pain when focusing your eye or other vision issues.
- Muscle control issues, particularly cramping, stiffness and spasm.
- Struggles with coordination, either by constantly feeling off balance, feeling dizzy or clumsy.
- Memory, concentration or focus issues.
- Bladder issues.
- Emotional changes and behaviour that is out of character.
- Sexual dysfunction.
These are not the only symptoms, and there are many other indirect effects of MS caused by trying to manage the condition.
Types Of Multiple Sclerosis
Besides the types of symptoms, MS can differ in how often these symptoms will affect a person.
Whilst MS is inherently variable, there are three main types of MS to consider:
- Relapsing Remitting – The most common type, symptoms will often flare up and then get better.
- Secondary Progressive – There are fewer relapses, but instead, symptoms very slowly get worse over time, or people no longer make a full recovery after a relapse. This is caused by the impact of relapses over a period of time.
- Primary Progressive – Instead of relapses, the nerves break down completely, causing symptoms that steadily get worse over time with no remission.
What Complexities Are Found In Caring For Someone With MS?
Caring for someone with MS can be difficult because there is often a lack of predictability with symptoms; the symptoms can vary, and the timing of relapses is not always consistent.
Whilst some people have days where they are not affected by their MS or can manage their symptoms, there are other days when it becomes far more difficult to do day-to-day tasks, get on with work, or even safely move around their house.
Because there is sometimes a big difference between a good day and a bad day with MS, some extra help can be essential for you to maintain a loved one’s independence.
This can take the form of family members helping out, adaptations of their home to make it safer and provide comfortable assistance when a flare-up takes place, it can involve carers coming in to help with specific tasks or being there to manage symptoms, or, in some cases, it can involve residential care.
How Can Domiciliary Care Help People With MS?
Whilst every care and support package will be different to cater to the very different needs of people with MS, domiciliary care is often the most effective option and provides the best balance between independence and versatile support.
Care needs are typically assessed based on someone’s needs during flare-ups and when they are struggling most, but the reality of MS for a lot of people is that they will have times when they can be more independent.
This makes residential or care home support less common, although it can become essential if someone with MS requires 24-hour specialist care and a live-in carer is considered to be unsuitable to meet their needs.
Here are the biggest ways that domiciliary care can help people with their MS symptoms.
A Bespoke Care Plan
Domiciliary care is designed to be flexible, and ranges from a couple of short visits a couple of hours a week to provide company and help with specific tasks up to and including live-in care and support at night to help manage flare-ups at all hours of the day.
This bespoke care plan can involve as much or as little as you need to ensure that your loved one can live an enjoyable, full and independent life, but it often involves:
- Help with running errands, such as collecting prescriptions, collecting shopping or managing important tasks during periods of fatigue or pain flare-ups.
- Help with personal care, including bathing, hygiene, changing clothes or support with stomas and catheters.
- Administering prescription medication and helping with pain management when needed.
- Preparing and cooking meals, which can vary in scope from ensuring meals are available to prepare in your own time to helping with feeding and swallowing.
- Household tasks such as laundry, vacuuming, washing dishes, putting the bins out and other tasks which can be more difficult when dealing with coordination issues.
- Companionship, conversation, going on days out and helping boost mental health and wellbeing, given its connection to physical health.
Maintaining Independence
Social care is fundamentally built around maintaining independence as much as possible, and having the ability to do what you want when you feel more able to do so is a pivotal pillar of ongoing health and social care.
Home care allows people to stay in their homes for far longer, which allows them to stay close to their communities, continue to see friends and family and otherwise live life the way they want to.
Care That Scales With Need
Everyone’s care needs change, but with MS, the changes can become more significant over time. Once a home care package is set up, it can be scaled up or down to meet needs as they develop and progress.
