The quality of life in people with MS is substantially lower than the general Australian population. Professor Ingrid van der Mei’s research aims to address this through the use digital health technologies to improve both clinical care and self-management for people with MS.
Professor van der Mei and her team are developing an integrated, patient-centred digital healthcare system (InforMS), an online employment support program (MS WorkSmart), and a symptom tracking app (My SymptoMS). In addition, four specialist Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are being developed, covering topics such mental health, social isolation, healthy ageing, treatment decision-making, and supporting and caring for someone living with MS.
Together, these initiatives aim to support behaviour change, improve health outcomes, and enhance clinical care for people with MS.
Professor van der Mei and her team have made substantial progress across all components of the project over the past year.
InforMS, a digital platform that functions as a patient-controlled electronic health record, has been developed and road-tested by a small group of people with MS. Testing in a larger group of participants from the Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS) commenced in August 2025 and will inform further refinement of the system. Of the 2316 AMSLS participants invited take part, 34% consented and 27% created an account. A PhD student has been recruited to support data analysis and manuscript publication.
The symptom-tracking app, My SymptoMS, has been successfully tested and integrated into InforMS and is functioning well. It has already supported research into sleep in MS and will soon be used to investigate fluctuations in pain. The web-app will be freely available, and its use across multiple studies will provide insights into how people engage with symptom tracking in real-world settings.
MS WorkSmart, an online program designed to support people with MS who are employed, has shown early promise in reducing the risk of job loss in a small study. The team is now investigating options to make it more widely available.
Three specialised MS MOOCs have been launched, including Mental Health and MS, Deciding About DMTs for MS, and Ageing Well with MS. These courses have attracted high enrolments (2000 to over 6000 participants), strong completion rates (>40%), and excellent user ratings (4.8-4.9/5). The final MOOC, Caring and Supporting People with MS, will be completed in 2026, alongside a comprehensive evaluation of all four MOOCs.
This work is sparking many new collaborations and building strong foundation for future research in digital health. Collectively, these initiatives demonstrate strong uptake and real-world applicability, positioning the program to significantly improve access to care and self-management for people with MS.
van der Mei I, Thomas S, Shapland S, Laslett LL, Taylor B, Huglo A, Honan C. Protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled feasibility study of MS WorkSmart: an online intervention for Australians with MS who are employed. BMJ Open 2024;14(5):e079644.
Updated 31 March 2026
$650,000
2022
5 years
Current project
