Communicating with family and caregivers

Communicating well with family and carers is key to maintaining a healthy support system for a person with MS. By responding to this survey, you can help us further understand how often support persons are involved in your MS journey and what kind of communication tools are needed in conversations between PwMS, their carers and HCPs.

Thank you for helping us to understand your perspective on the influence of families and caregivers on patient decision-making and appointment satisfaction.

Your responses will be used by EMD Serono on behalf of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (the sponsoring pharmaceutical company) to inform the development of educational tools or publications. Your responses will be presented to the sponsor company in an aggregated and anonymous format. Your responses will remain confidential and will not be used for purposes other than those outlined above, or disclosed to any third party without your approval. You can withdraw from the survey at any time and have the right not to answer a particular question should you so wish.

Are you happy to participate in the survey on this basis?(Required)

Yes

No

I am from(Required)

I am a(Required)

How long have you been in clinical practice?(Required)

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-19 years

20+ years

(Please select one)

On average, how often do your MS patients bring a family member, caregiver or support person to their appointments?(Required)

Almost always: >80% of the time

Often: 60–80% of the time

Sometimes: 40–60% of the time

Rarely: 20–40% of the time

Almost never: <20% of the time

(Please select one)

Why do you think your patients bring a support person to their appointments?(Required)

To offer emotional support

To ask or answer questions on the patient’s behalf

To help the patient understand the information they are given

To record the information they are given

To help the patient make decisions about their treatment

To help the support person better understand MS and provide better support to the patient

The support person has their own questions or concerns

To support with travel to and from the appointment

Other

(Please select all that apply)

When do you usually recommend that your patients bring a support person to their appointments?(Required)

Throughout the entire patient journey

When newly diagnosed

Following relapse or disability progression

When making treatment decisions

When discussing lifestyle changes or family planning

Only if they require full-time care

It is the patient’s choice

Never

(Please select all that apply)

To what extent do you think that support persons influence patients’ decisions about their MS treatment and care?(Required)

Not at all – patients make all decisions about their treatment and care themselves

Patients make decisions about their treatment and care themselves but with consideration for how they think it will affect their support persons

Patients make the final decision themselves but they will ask for their support persons’ opinions

Patients wouldn’t make any decision without their support persons’ agreement

Their support persons make all decisions about the patients’ treatment and care for them

(Please select one)

Which of the following do you think support persons would find most useful for your HCP team to provide?(Required)

Peer-to-peer support groups

Educational resources about MS

In office educational sessions for patients and family members

Training on how to care for a person with MS

Access to the MS team via phone/email

Other

None of the above – we have sufficient support for this group

(Please select all that apply)

Communicating with family and caregivers survey

Thank you for helping us to understand your perspective on the influence of families and caregivers on patient decision-making and appointment satisfaction.

Please indicate whether, in general, you think the following are true, false, or no different when your patients bring a support person to their appointments: