Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis

CAFE-MS will assess the effectiveness of two online programs for fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS). Although they differ, both of these online programs contain information about MS and fatigue intended to help people with MS understand and manage their fatigue.
This large-scale, decentralized clinical trial is projected to enroll 2,000 people with MS. The collaboration between iConquerMS and 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) sites in the MS Centers of Excellence is designed to ensure sufficient representation of people with MS from populations traditionally under-represented in MS clinical trials.
The study is a 3-arm, randomized controlled clinical trial with study participation lasting 1 year. Two of the trial arms will include one of two online programs for managing fatigue in MS added to the trial participants' usual MS treatment, and the third arm will include usual MS treatment alone. The online program phase of the trial lasts for 6 months after randomization followed by a final study visit at 12 months. Participants in the usual MS treatment alone arm for the first 6 months will have an opportunity to choose one of the online programs for the final 6 months of the trial.

Most people experience stress at some point in their lives. Stress, especially when severe, can not only make you feel bad, it can also worsen existing health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and even cancer. Healthy Mind, Healthy You is a new study about how mindfulness can help people cope with stress. Funded by the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) and involving 19 Patient Powered Research Networks (PPRNs), Healthy Mind Healthy You will be able to study the effects of mindfulness on a wide variety of populations and conditions.

This study aims to compare the effectiveness of an exercise program delivered in a conventional facility-based format versus a telerehabilitation format, which takes place in the home. Exercise can improve mobility and perhaps decrease the rate and extent of disability in people with MS. Evidence shows that traditional, facility-based exercise training may help people with MS consistently participate in exercise or to exercise at a higher, more intense level. Despite this evidence, lack of access to facility-based exercise programs may make it difficult for people with MS to engage in exercise.Telerehabilitation (telerehab) has great potential to overcome challenges associated with facility-based programs. Telerehab can include videoconferencing, remote monitoring of signs and activity, and dissemination of specialized and individualized information via electronic mechanisms, such as smartphones and computers. Both facility-based and telerehab exercise training have yielded positive results in people with MS, but have not been compared head-to-head. The current study will fill this gap in the evidence base and compare the outcomes of delivering the same exercise interventions in a facility or in the home/community using a telerehab approach. The interventions are designed to be identical in content, with the only difference being the mode of training delivery.