A new online activity has been launched to help explain the relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and coronavirus to children.
The activity, designed by Digesting Science and aimed at families with six- to 12-year-olds, takes around 20 to 30 minutes, and covers the immune system and how white blood cells fight infections like coronavirus and whether treating MS makes you more vulnerable to coronavirus.
Those wanting to try the activity will need some props, including pasta, paper or card, scissors, drinking glasses, a bowl, a blindfold, a pen and some tape.
Digesting Science recently hosted a series of online events for young people with MS covering the disease and issues around Covid-19, emotion, diet and lifestyle, and cognitive changes in school.
Eight families from Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital involving young people between the ages of 13 to 18. After completing the activity, families were asked how confident they felt discussing MS and Covid-19 before and after completing the activity.
Before the activity most participants reported that they were “somewhat” confident about talking about MS and covid-19, and after the activity, they were generally “confident” or “very confident” about doing so.
Alison Thomson, lecturer in Public Engagement and Public Engagement in Science at Queen Mary University of London, works with the MS research team and the Royal London hospitals they have clinical services.
She has been working on Digesting Science for the last decade, aiming to help improve public engagement and bridge the gap between researchers and patients and their families to educate on MS.
“I don’t have scientific background, so when I first met the researchers, I had no idea what MS was,” she tells NR Times.
“I gave them plasticine and objects and asked them to make models of their research, and from that one activity we were able to develop educational talks about how to communicate MS in simple forms, using plain English and objects to demonstrate meaning.”
Before the virus, the events took place in person, in spaces including charities, therapy centres and science events across the country. But when the pandemic came, they knew they would have to adapt.
“When the pandemic started, from a neurology service side of things, MS patients wanted to know what was going on, whether they were at risk, should they be shielding,” Thomson says.
“As our scientists began learning more about Covid 19 and how it interacted with the immune system and different therapies MS patients are on, they talked to me about how to communicate that quickly to audiences.
“We put together this activity, which is bridging the gap between the basics we already know and this is new information about Covid-19. We also spoke to families about the questions they were getting asked by their children.”
Thomson and her researchers worked with families to make sure they understood what the online activity was communicating, and scientists to ensure everything was factually correct, before introducing it to families through Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Thomson says that, while the activities are aimed at children, they also help adults to better understand MS.
“A lot of adult participants learn a lot through it, as well. The minute you’re diagnosed with MS, there’s a lot of jargon. It can get very confusing very quickly.
“We generally don’t update our scientific knowledge beyond school until someone is diagnosed with something, so if we’re not used to learning about science or using those processes of academic publishing, then it can be very scary.”
“Some people do become very engaged in learning about science so they can have those conversations and ask questions,” Thomson says.
