Developing an online nutrition education program for people with MS

Summary

Evidence suggests that making healthier food choices is beneficial for people with MS and making dietary changes can give them a sense of control over their disease. People with MS often turn to the internet for information about diet, and are faced with conflicting information from the “special diets” promoted for MS. They want clear information on what dietary changes to make, and how to make healthy food choices.

To meet this need, we will develop and run an online nutrition education program for people with MS, using a variety of ways to present the information. The free six-week program will be co-designed with people with MS and MS health professionals, and will provide information on diet and MS. This includes how diet might affect MS symptoms, gut health, foods to eat and avoid, meal-planning, dietary supplements, understanding scientific research, current and emerging research in diet and MS, and “special diets” promoted or sold for MS. We expect that completing the program will help people with MS make healthier food choices and improve their quality of life. We will assess the suitability of the content, format, and duration of the program as the program is progressing.

The findings will be used to improve the program and make it available in the long-term to people with MS across Australia, in the form of a larger trial to test how effective it is.