Aging and disability are topics of particular interest to me. Ageism for those living with a chronic illness is (unfortunately) alive and well. I believe I've been turned down for projects because of my age. They view me as too old, which is utter nonsense because I'm still vibrant, experienced, knowledgeable and professionally active.
My demographic, people age 50 and up, face discrimination on a regular basis whether it's in healthcare, qualifying for clinical trials, or in the workplace.
That is why I signed up to participate in a six-month wellness study on aging and physical disability being conducted by the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington. It's an easy and important way to use your voice to educate others on aging with MS and other medical conditions.
If you're age 45 - 64 and are diagnosed with any medical condition (such as Muscular Dystrophy, Amputation, Spinal Cord Injury, CMT, Multiple Sclerosis, etc) I urge you to sign up by calling 1-866-928-2114 or emailing communityhealthstudy@uw.ed
See below for more details
Thanks to MS Views and News for alerting me to this study. If you haven't subscribed to the MSVN newsletter click here. It's filled with essential information for the entire MS community.
Too funny. I must drive big pharma crazy ... I've aged out beyond all surveys and study groups ads I've left my forties, fifties, and sixties behind. And rather than feeling negatively, I'm delighted to experience this form of ageism... and am delighted to say that, after the intial four and a half years of apparently mis-prescribed nightly injections, i stopped taking all meds for ms ... stopped having MRIs more than a dozen years ago, and continue to walk, talk, read, write and quilt despite the diagnosis in my late fifties of RRMS. I see a neurologist once a year for a friendly chat ... no bloodwork, no lab tests ... just conversation and smiles. she has, for the past nine years, accepted me and my refusal of DMDs ... my refusal of lab work ... my belief that changing to a vegetarian, dairy free menu has restored my health. I was left with all three types of skin cancer after accepting those four and a half years of sself-injected chemo that killed my once strong teacher's immune system ... and we don't judge each other. I assume I still have innumerable lesions in both white and gray matter, measurable brain atrophy and a (probably benign) meningioma in the frontal lobe, but I have no wish or need to revisit those reports. No wonder they don't want people like me in their surveys and studies ... they would label me an outlier ... outside of the parameters of predictable results ... I wonder, though, how many there are like me ... too bad we'll never know.
I hope we/you get the answers we hope for, Kathy....Thank you for your enthusiasm!
Cathy,
I would absolutely like to participate in this study! Thank you for the information. I've reached out and waiting to hear back. I'll let you know what happens.
Be well,
Janet Tancredi
I'm signed up!