Video: New Survey Finds Technology Plays a Critical Role in Lives of People with Multiple Sclerosis, Yet Many Are Not Using it to Overcome Disease-Related ...(h MS rely heavily ontechnology to connec...)

-- Ninety-three percent of respondents use computers versus 80 percent of

the general population.*

-- Ninety-three percent use the Internet versus 75 percent; 91 percent use

cell phones versus 69 percent.*

-- When asked how technology keeps people with MS connected to important

people in their lives, 67 percent of those surveyed said they were

satisfied with its role, and 53 percent of those who use the Internet

said that the Internet helps them be their own advocate with MS.

-- * The general population data is derived from the Simmons National

Consumer Survey, Spring, 2006.

Opportunity to educate and inform

Despite the benefits of technology, people with MS may not be taking advantage of newer technologies for the following reasons:

-- Approximately one-third (33 percent) of those surveyed said MS makes it

harder to learn to use new technology.

-- More than half of respondents (56 percent) said that better information

about what tools and resources are available to them would make it

easier to make changes.

-- Forty-eight percent cited affordability as a barrier to using

technology-even though many adaptive technologies are actually standard

features of the average computer.

"Living with MS can be easier with the use of adaptive and accessible technology resources," said George H. Kraft, M.D., M.S., University of Washington Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Neurology, and Director of the Western Multiple Sclerosis Center. "This survey establishes the vital role that technology can play in the lives of people with MS, including keeping them connected to their communities and social lives and helping to make important treatment and lifestyle decisions."

To inform people with MS about t
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