Publisher's Synopsis
Coping with multiple sclerosis, like other chronic illnesses, is a continuous process and therefore as relevant in old age as it is to young adults, to people with long duration of illness as well as those recently diagnosed, to people in institutional settings as well as those living at home. This book is an in-depth study of the ordinary, day-to-day lives of people with multiple sclerosis: some of whom live at home and some in an institutional setting. It highlights the problems people experience and the expertise they hold. The focus is on the perspectives of people with multiple sclerosis, but these are set against the physical characteristics of the disease, social (lay and medical) concepts of chronic illness and psychological models of adaptation. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were combined to collect individual accounts of illness and to assess the role of stress in adaptation to multiple sclerosis.
