The Multiple Sclerosis Online Course: Randomised Controlled Trial
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Senior Research Fellow
Dr Jeanette Reece
Project Details
The Multiple Sclerosis Online Course (MSOC) was developed to translate an existing face-to-face lifestyle educational intervention in multiple sclerosis (MS) into an accessible online format. It is the first RCT of a multimodal lifestyle intervention in MS. Two versions of the MSOC were developed: an intervention course containing the best available evidence regarding modificaton of lifestyle-related risk factors in MS; and a standard care course containing information from public facing MS websites. The MSOC RCT was devised to assess the effectiveness of the MSOC at effecting behaviour change and improving health outcomes over 2.5 years following course completion.
In 2022-23 over 660 particpants completed the course and we now have baseline demographic and health, post course evaluation and six month follow up data. We have also conducted qualitative interviews with course paritpcants to explore their experiences and outcomes.
Researchers
Dr Jeanette Reece, Senior Research Fellow and Project Lead
Dr Sandra Neate, Principle Research Fellow
Dr Steve Simpson-Yap, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Nupur Nag, Senior Research Fellow
Ms Maggie Yu, Research Assistant
Dr William Bevens, Research Assistant
Funding
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD students, Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.
Research Outcomes
Bevens W, Weiland TJ, Gray K, Neate SL, Nag N, Simpson-Yap S, Reece J, Yu M, Jelinek GA. The Feasibility of a Web-Based Educational Lifestyle Program for People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Front Public Health. 2022 Apr 27;10
Bevens W, Reece J, Jelinek PL, Weiland TJ, Nag N, Simpson-Yap S, Gray K, Jelinek GA, Neate SL. The feasibility of an online educational lifestyle program for people with multiple sclerosis: A qualitative analysis of participant semi-structured interviews. Digit Health. 2022 Sep 4;8
Neate SL, Bevens W, Jelinek PL, et al. A multiple sclerosis lifestyle behavior online course: Qualitative analysis of participants' motivations, expectations and experiences. Frontiers in Public Health 2022;10.