FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

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The MS Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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MS Service Provision in Northern Ireland

Applications are invited to determine statutory and voluntary health and
social service provision for people with MS in Northern Ireland, their
uptake, accessibility and value. In addition, to establish the unmet needs
of people with MS. Funding will be for up to one year.

Aim 
The MS Society in Northern Ireland wishes to establish the level of health
and social voluntary and statutory service provision for people with
multiple sclerosis in order to influence the future development of
appropriate services by the MS Society. Applications are therefore being
invited from suitable researchers with experience and a proven track record
of service evaluation to map and identify unmet needs and provide
recommendations for health and social service provision for people with MS
in Northern Ireland. It is envisaged that this research will consider the
views of people with multiple sclerosis and their relatives in addition to
service providers, both statutory and voluntary.

Deadlines:
·     Receipt of applications         February 29th 2000
·     Steering Committee Meets        March 10th 2000
·     Project Start Date      April 1st 2000
·     Recommendations         December 22nd 2000

Background
1.      Northern Ireland has one of the highest incidences of MS in the
world, with a prevalence of nearly 1 in 500. It is estimated that almost
3,000 people in Northern Ireland have MS with many more people, families,
friends and carers affected by the condition. 
2.      There are a number of statutory and voluntary organisations involved
in providing a variety of health and social services for people affected by
MS at different stages of the disease. However, there has been no overall
evaluation of services available or assessment of unmet needs of people with
MS, their families and carers. 
3.      The Society wishes to determine the service needs of people with MS
in Northern Ireland in order to inform future planning of the Society with
respect to service provision. It wishes to map the existing services
provided by the statutory and voluntary sectors and their uptake,
accessibility and value to people affected by people with MS, as judged by
service providers and users.
4.      The Society is committed to ensuring that people affected by MS have
access to appropriate services in an equitable fashion. It therefore wishes
to assess service needs throughout the whole province for people with MS at
all stages of their disease. It is envisaged that the results of such
research will be generally applicable to the rest of the UK.
5.      The Society wishes to determine the unmet needs of people affected
by MS from their own perspective, as well as those perceived by providers
and professionals. This will be used to inform the planning process of the
Society in Northern Ireland, not only with respect to their own service
provision, but also to target lobbying and working with other organisations
to provide appropriate services. 
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Requests for application forms should be addressed to 
Gregory Clayton
Administrative Assistant
Research Team
MS Society
25 Effie Road
London 
SW6 1EE. 
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 0171 610 7105

For further information contact:
Jo Semlyen
Applied Research Liaison Officer
MS Society
25 Effie Road
London 
SW6 1EE. 

Tel   0171 610 7140/7105
Fax  0171 736 9861 
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.mssociety.org.uk/research.htm
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