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The MSing Link
250. Newly Diagnosed with MS? How to Find MS Support and Connect with Other People with MS
00:37:45
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- [00:00]
A
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I am very excited to introduce Amy Stowe from Shift Ms. Amy has been working there for seven and a half years and she's the head of operations who's been leading their incredible Buddy Network program. And when I say incredible, I truly mean it. They have supported over 2000 people who who are newly diagnosed with Ms. By pairing them with buddies who actually get it because they are living with Ms. Too. And here's what blew my mind. 82% of people coming into their program don't know a single other person with Ms. Can you even imagine that? I mean, maybe you can, maybe that's also been your experience, but you get this life changing diagnosis and you literally don't know anyone else who understands who what you're going through. That's why programs like this are so incredibly important. And Amy's team has created something extremely special. On today's episode, we talk about how this buddy matching program actually works. And it's way more thoughtful than you might think. We also dive into the amazing results they're seeing. Like people feeling 60% less lonely and 50% more confident about their future. And Amy walks us through how you can get connected with a buddy in just two to three days through their app. And honestly, by the end of this conversation, you're going to want to tell every newly diagnosed person you know about this resource. So let's dive in.
- [01:46]
B
The big question is, how does someone with Ms. Actually improve their mobility, strength, energy independence? The list goes on. My name is Dr. Gretchen Holley, physical therapist and multiple sclerosis specialist. Welcome to the Missing Link podcast. Tune in as I share the top strategies and exercises to help you gain control over your life with ms, using research driven insights and advice from top industry experts. Whether you're newly diagnosed or have had Ms. For over 30 years, whether you have relapsing Ms. Or progressive MS, this podcast is for you. You're sure to feel empowered and inspired after each episode.
- [02:36]
A
Ready?
- [02:37]
B
Let's dive in.
- [02:45]
A
Amy, thank you so much for being here with us today.
- [02:48]
C
Thank you so much for inviting me. It's lovely to be here.
- [02:51]
A
It is lovely. I'm really excited to have you share all about SHIFT Ms. And the Buddy Network. It's so important for people to know that programs like this exist, so I'm really excited to dive into that. But before we do, is it okay with you if I ask you a question from my interview deck?
- [03:13]
C
Yes, please do.
- [03:14]
A
Okay, I'm shuffling. Okay. Your question is, which activities make you lose Track of Time.
- [03:23]
C
Oh, that is a good question. Probably feels like such a cliche answer. But genuinely reading, particularly if it's a book where I kind of get very lost in it because I do lose all sense of time. It does depend on what type of book. I've tried to read classics, Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, I've tried. Time did not pass at all doing that. But yeah, I'm reading a really good book at the moment, which is actually. It's actually more factual rather than fiction. I love history and so I'm reading a book called 18 and it's really easy to get lost in it as well. So, yeah, time passes and I'm like, oh, that's an hour gone. Okay.
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A
Oh, wow. What other series have you liked?
- [04:05]
C
I read a lot of like historical, like murder mystery. That tends to be what I read. There's a book that I'm really itching to start, which is from a uk UK author called the Thursday Murder Club. I think it's been out for a while. He's kind of got a series of these books. I haven't read them yet, but I'm very excited to. To try it. I tend to only read sort of kind of single books, if that makes sense. Sort of standalones. Although I have read a few of the. The Outlander series books as well because again, they're sort of based in history.
- [04:38]
A
Oh, that's very cool. So not necessarily a Harry Potter vibe.
- [04:43]
C
I have read Harry Potter, but I wouldn't. Yeah, it was more. I feel like I should. Yeah, the same with like the Hunger Games. Kind of read. Read those as well and that they're actually quite easy to read. Yeah, it probably is not up there with my. My top kind of picks, I'd say.
- [04:59]
A
Yeah, awesome. Very cool. Thank you for answering that question. Okay, so let's dive in with first sharing about who you are and what.
- [05:09]
C
Is Shift Ms. Yeah, so my role is head of operations. I've been at shift Ms. For 7 and a half years now. I was brought in originally as community Engagement Manager. Unity is really important. Shift Ms. I'll talk a little bit more about that in just a moment. And it was really to improve kind of co production, how we involve our masses in our work and then kind of as we have built the team and grown, we're still very small. There's only 11 of us. My role kind of evolved in line with. With kind of changes, brought in kind of new people with new skills. So I do a kind of bit of everything is sort of how Operations work, but in particular my role is around kind of supporting the development and piloting of new programs, particularly our one to one program which you've already mentioned, the buddy network as well. So Shift ms, for those of you who aren't aware, is a digital community for people with Ms. We offer social and emotional support, inspiring MS's to take charge of their health as soon as possible after diagnosis. So for us, that sort of newly diagnosed period in the first couple of years, it's really key to get people so they can adapt to their diagnosis, can make those really key decisions about their long term health. Because as we all know, a diagnosis of Ms. Is life changing and something that you do have to live with on a long term basis. And it often strikes at that time of your life where you are making lots of decisions. And Shift Ms. Came about for that exact reason. So our chief exec now chief exec started Shift Ms. Because he was diagnosed when he was 22. He went along to the support groups that were available. And you know, I am talking 20 years ago, the world is a different place now. But at that time the support that was available was really not geared to somebody like him. He went along and he just. Everybody that was there were people who were further along in their journey. We're a lot older than him. You know, 22 and 52 are quite different. You're doing different things, your life looks quite different. He was trying to make decisions about perhaps going traveling, buying a house, getting buried, starting a family, you know, going into work. And those questions are quite different for people who were kind of further along their journey and also were a lot more progressive than he was. So I think he found it quite a scary experience. And for him he just wanted to connect with other people like him. Not necessarily just people who were 22, but also people who were in those kind of early stages or at least people who worth a couple years down the line who he could kind of connect with and sort of see that peer living well with Ms. And that's where Shift Ms. Came about really as a way for George to connect with other MSEs. And it's just kind of grown from that point. It's always been a virtual community. We've never had sort of a physical location because it was a way of people to connect without geography really being a barrier. It also meant that it was there 24 7, still is there 24 7, which was really important to George particularly because he knew that a lot of people getting diagnosed, you know, had families, had work commitments and it was really important that the support that was available was flexible for everybody.
- [08:33]
A
Yeah, I'm a huge advocate of anything that can be super accessible and you know, especially talking about the Internet and just virtual options. You can reach people in any country, any time zone. It's just so nice for accessibility, especially with something as. I don't know if niche is the right word, but as niche as early diagnosis. Not just anyone with Ms. But early. So do you and your resources generally help people within like the first five years of diagnosis or first year 10 years? Like who's the main population that you guys are helping?
- [09:13]
C
Yeah, so we are open to everybody. It's very important that everybody can access the support. But really where the gap George felt when, you know, when he was first diagnosed was in that sort of two year period from diagnosis onwards. So yeah, we kind of say our target audience is people who are newly diagnosed and for us that's the first two years. I know that a lot of people see newly diagnosed as perhaps being in the first five years. I think everybody reacts to a diagnosis very differently. Differently. Some people bury their head in the sand because perhaps their Ms. Isn't that active and perhaps, you know, that that works for them. But then sometimes people then have a relapse and they sort of have to come face to face with that all over again. And you know, at that point they might be a couple of years down their journey. But for us it's really important to reach people as soon as possible. I think we all understand that tackling Ms. As soon as possible and making those early proactive decisions about kind of your lifestyle, your dmt, if that's something that is available and you want to do, it's really important.
- [10:15]
A
Absolutely. And I can even think of a few people who they've actually been diagnosed for a while, but as you said, it wasn't super active. So even though they've been diagnosed for 10 years or so, they're just now starting to really dive in. So I do love that you guys are open to anyone and everyone. How would you say? And we are going to get into the buddy network. But before we do, how is Shift Ms. Different from other Ms. Communities that are out there?
- [10:45]
C
Yeah, I mean, I guess the key thing I would say and you know, there is other things appearing all the time. Right. But the key thing for us is that we were founded by somebody with Ms. You know, that that lived experience is so crucial for us as an organization. You know, our Tagline is by MSEs for MSEs. You know, we have that ethos that lived experience focus is really key to us. There's amazing organizations out there that provide really important health education in a really medical way. Let's say that's equally as important. Everybody accesses information in a different way. I think for us, our difference is that the information that we try to provide is based in lived experience. It's accessible. It's said in a way that we would all talk, let's say, you know, we try to remove the jargon. I think that's a big challenge. When you're first diagnosed with any long term health condition, but particularly ms, you sort of have to learn a whole new language and suddenly you have to learn treatment names that sound very, very bizarre. And, you know, you get a load of acronyms and you suddenly become aware of things that you didn't even know existed. And I think somebody being able to talk you through what that actually means in kind of plain language is really important. So having that kind of patient voice almost at every level is really important. Obviously the focus on newly diagnosed Ms. As well. And I think because of the fact that we are now an app based organization as well. So we started as a website, but have moved since moved to an app. It does mean that we can really tailor what people see as well and really personalize things. So a lot of online communities, you kind of see everything. Whereas with Shift Ms. We can say, okay, so you're in the first two years of diagnosis. This is potentially information that might be most useful to you. Okay, you're actually five years down the line, or perhaps you're in more progressive stages. Here are something that might be more interesting to you. So we can really kind of personalize things and connect people with others who are like me in whatever way that means, because it means different things to different people.
- [12:56]
A
Yeah. So how does that work then? First of all, is the app called Shift ms?
- [13:01]
C
It is, yeah.
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A
Okay. And then once you get it, do questions appear? And then based on how you answer that, that's the type of information you'll see.
- [13:10]
C
Yeah, exactly. And that's something that we're continually working on as well. I think it's always one of those things. You know, technology moves really quickly, as we all know, with the rise of AI, et cetera. You know, we're always looking at new ways that we could implement technology. And I think for us, particularly with the group of people that we're looking to support, we're looking at people who are, I hesitate to say younger because I feel like I don't fit in that category anymore. But people in their 20s and 30s who are, you know, to use all the buzzwords, digital natives and who are used to having things on app. You know, the one question that for probably the last 10 years every member has said to us is, do you have an app? To the point where I remember saying this just needs to be on a T shirt guys, we just need to have a slogan on a T shirt. Do you have an app? And we finally bowed to peer pressure, was like, yeah, we just need to, we just need to do this now.
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A
Yeah, I love that the back of the shirt could say, yes, we do.
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C
Exactly. QR code here.
- [14:11]
A
Awesome. Okay, so we've talked about this name a few times, but let's really dive into it. So can you explain exactly what the buddy network is?
- [14:20]
C
Yeah, I mean it's a really simple concept in a lot of ways. It's essentially a one to one peer support project that connects people who are newly diagnosed, again, people within the first two years of diagnosis with a buddy, so somebody who is a more experienced person with Ms. And it came about because two things sort of happened. George, when he was sort of a couple of years into his diagnosis because people knew who he was and people like, oh, I know a guy who has ms, maybe it might be worth speaking to him. He was, he kind of got quite a lot of people coming into his inbox or calling him or whatsapping him or whatever it might be. Can I have a chat? I've just been diagnosed so informally. He was providing quite a lot of this peer support and obviously he's always really happy to chat to people because he understands how important it is. And then we were also being told by a lot of healthcare professionals that they were sort of had patients coming in who they were like, oh, I really wish I could connect you with so and so because you've been quite a similar position. They're a little bit further down their journey. You know, they, they were you three years ago and it'd be really good for you to see them. But obviously they can't do that because of, you know, confidentiality and data protection and all those kind of things. So we were hearing anecdotally about all these things that were kind of happening when it comes to one to one. And we were like, we can, we can fill that space. There is a, you know, if people need it, that's something that, that we can do. So essentially it's grown from there. It's been running since 2018 now and you know, we've supported over 2,000 people, have worked with over 350 buddies during that time as well.
- [15:56]
A
That's crazy. That's a lot of people.
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C
It's a lot. It's a lot of people. It's a lot of people. Which, you know, in a lot of ways shows how much people just want to connect with another person. I think time and time again I'm told by, as you can probably tell, I'm based in the uk, in England but, but Ms. Nurses tell me a lot that the thing that they can't provide is that lived experience. 9 times out of 10 they can't provide that experience.
- [16:25]
A
So I'm assuming every buddy pairing is obviously going to be different and what they talk about is going to be different. But is it mostly for just having someone to chat with about your experience? Is it for accountability to doing your exercises or staying hydrated following a meal plan? Is there a main focus or is it just kind of whatever you need it to be?
- [16:49]
C
Yeah, so it's a really interesting question and actually questions that we're sort of asking ourselves right now as well. So at the moment it is, I don't want to say broad support because that's probably not doing it justice but it is more about that emotional and well being support to kind of get people to adjust to their diagnosis. But more and more we are talking about can we perhaps provide more specific routes to support.
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A
Support.
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C
So exactly what you've been saying about accountability and accountability, buddy, I'm not sure that's a brilliant tagline but potentially, but, but also you know, around other big things that people who are in those early stages of diagnosis might be worried about. I mean work comes up time and time again. We've done a huge kind of research piece on that recently and there is, there's definitely a need there as well. Pregnancy come comes up quite a lot and having children with Ms. In general comes up quite a few times as well. So there is definitely opportunity for us to sort of, we have this broad umbrella support but, but perhaps to provide sort of more specific avenues for support depending on yeah individual needs whilst also trying to manage the fact that our buddies also have Ms. As well. And you know, we're really cognizant of their health and emotional well being as well. Because yeah, it can be, can be quite taxing potentially to speak to a newly diagnosed person sort of almost kind of take on their challenges as well.
- [18:13]
A
Right, absolutely. And so does this communication happen inside the app?
- [18:18]
C
Yeah. So how it works is somebody who would like a buddy Kind of requests. One, the sort of a really informal sort of application process. It's about five questions and what we do is we try and match that person with, with a buddy based on some kind of top line criteria. Most of the time it's kind of location, type of Ms. Age, sometimes we match on gender. Again, if that person is kind of talking about starting a family, for example, we may decide to match them with the same gender, but it kind of depends on that individual's needs. And then once we make that match, the initial sort of communication where we sort of say, hey, this is your buddy. It's all done in the Shift Ms. App. We have a, we have a direct messaging feature and people can stay on the app if they, they like that as a platform. But we absolutely say this, this has to work for you. There is lots of communication channels out there. Some people prefer having a conversation on the phone, some people prefer video calls, others prefer emails. Our app is only 12 months old, so it's still quite young. And you know, we haven't got things like a voice messaging facility as of yet. And so some people that particularly if they're struggling with Dexterity platforms like WhatsApp for example, may just be more appropriate for them. So we try not to tie people down in, you know, have boundaries, but not create to a point where we feel like we're not being accessible for everybody. So we kind of leave it up to the people in the match to make a decision on which platform. I think a lot of people stay, to be honest, on the app, but, but there will be people who, they just prefer talking to a human, you know, over the phone, in which case, you know, obviously can do that as well.
- [20:02]
A
Yeah, I kind of love that it's in the app because it's just everything all in one place. And then you're right if, if Zoom is what's preferred or WhatsApp, you know, moving from there. But it's, it's nice that it's not via an email. I just am constantly hearing that so many people like emails are just going to spam or you just don't get them. And so if you're waiting to hear from someone and you don't like. So yeah, I think keeping it in the app sounds from a user perspective like a wonderful idea.
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C
Yeah, definitely. It feels a bit more instant as well, doesn't it? Like you say it's not, it's not kind of lost it. Yeah, Email almost feels like it's a bit of a, bit of a dying bit of A dying platform except for, you know, businesses, I suppose, and professionals generally day to day communication. People don't really email each other.
- [20:48]
A
Yeah, that's not it. I'm wondering who are these buddies that they're being paired with? Do they have any. Obviously the lived experience is a huge, huge component. Do they have trainings that they're going through? Can someone become a buddy? What is, what is that side of this buddy network look like?
- [21:08]
C
Yeah, absolutely. So our, our buddies go through quite a, I'd say quite a rigorous recruitment process. They again, kind of go through the application phase. So they tell us kind of why they're interested. We also again, sort of to some extent have an arbitrary sort of. You must have had a mess for at least two years. It feels slightly arbitrary, but only because we sort of have to have some sort of cutoff point. It doesn't mean people who are sort of in their early days of Ms. Can't become a buddy. It's just generally the focus for us is that you really should be sort of focusing on yourself and kind of feeling like you're, you know, getting that support. But sometimes people are like, you know what, I'm here and I'm ready to support others, which is, which is amazing. But generally people are at least two years beyond their sort of diagnosis. Yeah, they have an application, then we have a call with them as well. And that's really for us to drill down, down a little bit more to understand kind of where they're at with their Ms. And really to get them to understand what it means to be a buddy. Like you say, lived experience is really the most crucial element of this because the biggest thing that Buddy network does is actually allow people to connect with another person with Ms. You know, 82% of people coming into the buddy network tell us they don't know another person with Ms. So you know, it's really crucial that. Yeah, it's insanely high.
- [22:26]
A
So that is. My eyes just like popped open like that. It is so crazy and unfortunate that it's that high of a number because Ms. Can make you feel alone as is. But then when you're talking about specific symptoms or experiences, you can feel even more alone and just like no one gets it. And that can be really challenging. It's so unfortunate that programs like this aren't more widely known because we could help that number lower significantly.
- [23:01]
C
Absolutely. I mean there's this huge potential. There's huge potential. I think not everybody wants one to one support. So you know, some people with a group or you Know, dealing with things on their own, perhaps. So, you know, I think it is just about giving people the opportunity. Right. So, yeah, so having that lived experience is really important. And then if we feel like that person, you know, would. Would make a good buddy, we feel confident having had a conversation with them, that they're in a good place with that, with their own ms, knowing that, you know, good days and bad days, but generally there's more good than bad, or they can, you know, are quite resilient and can cope with those bad days as well. We then go through kind of a round of like you would do when you apply for a job. You know, we take a reference and do some of the checks. But then they kind of go into, into our training program and they have some written resources. So the key thing is our handbook, which is sort of the central resource that everyone can come back to. We have written training programs, so things around how to start a conversation. I know that sounds really bizarre, but sometimes it's kind of the rules of engagement are almost different when it's written and over an app, communication rather than sort of meeting in person what to do if things go wrong or what happens if you are concerned about somebody. And we also have video resources as well. And a lot of the topics that we sort of train people in are topics that our buddies, you know, when we first piloted this, told us that they felt were most important. So a lot of the resources, to be honest, are from our buddies themselves. So they've either written the resources or it's them talking in videos telling us kind of. So I had this situation happen. This is what I did. And trying to kind of provide real life experiences of some of the, you know, the things that people might come across, how to support somebody who's perhaps kind of in a. Having a particularly rough time and kind of other resources that we can point people to. I think the buddy network, the thing that we always try and be really clear about is that it's not a crisis service. And there are other amazing resources and places and organizations out there that can support those people. So buddies either refer back to us and then we can refer out, or potentially they can, they can sort of say, this might be a tool that you might find really helpful. And then we have lots of like ongoing support as well. So our buddies are in a group chat, which is. We currently have 147 buddies. So it can get quite loud in the group chat, but that is really them sharing. Oh, I've got this challenge at the moment. Has anybody else faced this. Sometimes they share things that are sort of more broadly about Ms. New research that they might have seen coming out or tools that they've found themselves around, perhaps coaching techniques that they might want to share with people. And we also have, every three months we have a video call where again, buddies can kind of come along and we kind of let them set the agenda. But again, often it's kind of them seeing each other and also sharing their experiences. And new buddies find that useful because they can again, hear from other people's experiences as well. So it's kind of peer support within. Within the peer support network itself.
- [26:09]
A
Yeah. So basically everyone's getting supported. The.
- [26:12]
C
Yes.
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A
Like on both ends, the buddies and the people that they are getting paired with.
- [26:16]
C
Yeah, I say this all the time. It's the thing that I really love about this program is really everybody's winning. You know, the buddies are winning and obviously the people who are getting the support are winning as well. So. Yeah, it's just, it's such a. It's such a brilliant program and I do think it is fairly unique. You know, we have looked at lots of other. In other disease areas, particularly here in the uk. I've looked at kind of cancer, kind of similar cancer ones. And the thing that I always found not strange, but I suppose that makes the buddy network even more special is the, the one that I was talking. The person I was talking to who works for Macmillan Cancer, they were saying that they're people that effectively their buddies could be anybody who's been affected by cancer. And I'm not saying that that minimizes anybody's experience, but for us, the experience you must live with, ms, it was. Was really, really key and crucial and important. And I think there is really interesting conversations about how this could flourish and develop further. And, you know, we, we often have conversations about, you know, carers and loved ones as well. You know, there's huge opportunity. Huge opportunity. Yeah.
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A
I just got like 10 business ideas and I'm on.
- [27:29]
C
And I think, I think we're always, you know, we're aware of the people potential of it, but also, like I said, we're quite a small team. So, you know, we're super ambitious as an organization, but we also have to be aware that, you know, there's. There's only so much that we can do with for sure, within the 11 of us.
- [27:46]
A
Well, and keeping it high quality too. And like, you guys do have a rigorous progress or process to go through. Have you guys tracked outcomes at all or just have people shared with you what this program has done for them because I imagine that would just be like so rewarding to read that or hear that feedback.
- [28:07]
C
Yeah. So the. So the three kind of things that we measure that are really important to us is around knowing other people within us, kind of that idea of kind of reducing loneliness and isolation connection is so important shift or message. I mean, it's essentially the very heart of everything that do. And I suppose the third sort of outcome area is really around people feeling confident, particularly confident about the future as well. Those were really key for us in this program of work. So we do a baseline survey before people even have a buddy, just to kind of understand where people are at. And there's basically three questions that we ask and we ask the same three questions at the end once people have kind of completed their match and we do see some brilliant results. So yeah, we suddenly have 71% of people saying that they know somebody else with a mess that they can go to. Obviously they've now, you know, which. But it's a huge increase from, you know, that initial thing of actually only sort of 18% of people kind of when they come in, 79% of people say that there's enough people that they feel close to. So that kind of loneliness and isolation, which is 60% increase from the sort of the baseline. So at point of entry. And then 63% of people feel confident about their future, which is nearly a 50% increase again from. So when people come in, they. They feel, they feel on their own, they don't know anybody else, all of us, and they're not feeling particularly good about the future. And you know, obviously we see a general upward trend when it comes to sort of the end of their match and matches can. Our sort of end point is always at six months. But sometimes people get what they need after three months or four months. So we try to be flexible as well with when people are like, cool. I think, I think I've got what I need from this. But generally six months is sort of our cutoff point. But often we find people just. If they like each other and want to remain friends, you know, they keep talking. After that point.
- [30:06]
A
I got chills. As you were saying those stats. I was just recently at the annual Ms. Conference and there was a huge focus on how much loneliness impacts Ms. Specifically. And it's not great. And again, just the fact that this is all in an app, I mean, if you're feeling lonely and maybe even depressed, it can be hard to do even opening an app to make like to press send or submit this form. Even that can feel like climbing a mountain some days. But it's easier than making a phone call and finding the number. And so the fact that this makes it so easy to connect with others and pair people, I mean, that's just literally for your actual health, like so beneficial.
- [30:56]
C
Yeah. And we, and we do try to make it as easy as possible. Yeah. It's taken us quite a long time to get to this point. There's been lots of learnings on the way. If you'd have looked at this program two, two and a half years ago, it was not as easy as it is now. It was significantly less intuitive. There was, it felt like there's a lot more barriers in place. But we've really tried to streamline it so that people get the support they need when they need it. There isn't. So let's do a bit of back and forth over email. You know, it's all, it's all in the app. You can see the progress of your application and you know, the general wait time. It does vary from person to person, but on average it's somewhere in the region of two to three days, which I think at one point we were about two weeks. So we have massively reduced it. Once we moved to the app it just allowed us to be a lot more agile and nimble and having the chat function and you know, some of the automation and notifications, all of that has really helped speed up the process. But sometimes people get connected the same day and our ambition very much is to move towards utilizing technology so that we can connect human to humans. So not humans to, you know, AI. Although that might be something we explore in the future. But right now, human to human is, is always what we're going to do with the buddy network, but connecting people as soon as we can, what that looks like, you know, we're aiming for 48 hours in the next 12 months. That's kind of our goal. But always looking to try and, you know, make it as instant as possible because that's, that's what people need and it's kind of what people expect. This is true.
- [32:31]
A
Yeah.
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C
The double edged sword of technology in.
- [32:34]
A
This day and age.
- [32:34]
C
Amazing. Yeah, exactly. But you know, it would be, in a lot of ways you'd sort of be annoyed if you'd applied for something and it took you three days for somebody to get back to you. So, you know, I think managing expectations, I think we're very lucky that our community understand who we are and what we do and you know, the app is still relatively new. I think people kind of know our team, which perhaps is quite different from a lot of big organizations. Like often people know us by name, which is amazing and also slightly scary. But I think people like our team and you know, they sort of understand that when somebody gets back to them, it is actually a real person that gets back to them is often not an automated message. It's me saying, well, I'm really sorry, you know, it's been the weekend or whatever it might be. So yeah, we're really keen to think about how technology can speed up those connections because like you say, loneliness, isolation for anybody, but particularly people with long term health conditions is just. Yeah, it can have really detrimental impacts.
- [33:36]
A
Yeah, the research shows it literally can progress your Ms. That loneliness and specifically isolation. So this is all virtual. Do you know how widespread all these buddies are? Like just which different countries or how many countries?
- [33:54]
C
Yeah, so we are global. Obviously Shift Ms. Is an English speaking platform, so that, that generally means that our buddies are from English speaking countries. Again, we are based in the uk but I would say that we're getting to a point where actually our buddies out in the US are rapidly catching up our buddies in the uk. So yeah, United Kingdom, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand are sort of kind of where I'd say the majority of people are. We do have some people in South America as well. Mexico, Brazil and some on mainland Europe as well. Particularly kind of Spain, France and some of, of the, some of, some of the Eastern European countries as well. But generally, yeah, sort of the English speaking countries are where we'll find people. But we do, I mean we do also have English speaking people who, you know, are, you know, expats who are in different parts of the world as well. I can't remember which country in Africa now and we definitely had somebody out in Asia at one point who then moved back to the uk but you know, people, people are kind of spread all over the world but, but generally, you know, kind of hitting that English speaking audience that is so amazing.
- [35:01]
A
This is a resource I just feel like everyone needs to know about. If someone listening is interested, what should they do and how. What's the best way to access you or the team or get paired with a buddy or even if they just want to see what resources you have.
- [35:17]
C
Yeah, absolutely. So I think it depends on the individual but I would definitely, if you're not already download the Shift Ms. App. It's available in app stores. So Apple and Android just search for Shift Ms. And it should come up, you'll be asked to join and then you should start seeing messaging depending on whether. Depending on how many years you've been diagnosed for the Buddy Network. You can also email us at HelloHift Ms. Or you can visit our website as well, which is www.shift.ms. and you should be able to find all the information there. We are on most, if not all social media platforms. Instagram in particular is probably where we're most active. So you can always us a direct message via that platform and we can definitely send you more information.
- [36:02]
A
Awesome. And we will put all of those links and accounts in the show notes. If anyone missed any or wants to review all of them, we'll make them easy access there for you. This has been so amazing, Amy. Thank you so much for sharing about Shift Ms. And specifically this Buddy Network. What you guys are doing is I hope you know how big of an impact you're making because it is so important to have resources like this and there's not enough out there. So thank you so much.
- [36:31]
C
Thank you so much. It was, it was amazing to get a chance to chat about the Buddy Network. I could wax lyrical all day, but I will stop.
- [36:47]
B
Thank you for listening to today's show.
- [36:49]
A
I am so grateful to to have you as a listener.
- [36:52]
B
If you'd like extra resources such as a video of one of my seated exercise classes, my favorite core exercises, and the opportunity to ask me your questions, head to missinglink.com insider. That link will be shared in the show notes along with links to my social media handles. If you love this episode and think of friends or family member with Ms. Would benefit from listening, please go ahead and text or email this podcast to them right now. Sharing this podcast will help me educate and empower as many Ms. Warriors as possible. Thanks again for joining and be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the Missing Link podcast.