The MSunderstood Café
The MSunderstood Café
The MSunderstood Café, March 2018
In March 2018, MS Ireland in partnership with Roche opened up a sensory Café that captured customers ‘Experiencing’ Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms. The café popped-up on Exchequer Street, Dublin 2 on Wednesday, 28th March, for one day only to give customers a truly impactful insight into the everyday challenges of MS. You can check out the thought-provoking video which shows their reactions and interactions in the MSunderstood Café below.
The experiment involved replacing the menu boards, coffee mugs, floors and furniture with specially-created materials and followed customers as they tried to enjoy their coffee break. The simulated environment was created with people with MS to ensure all aspects of the café were as true to life as possible.
Karen Hynes, from Blackrock, Dublin, is living with MS. She helped advise on the project in the hope it would really get people talking about MS and help improve people's understanding of the challenges faced living with the condition.
“This MSunderstood Café means the world to me as it shows a day in the life that I go through on a daily basis.”
The experiential Café aimed to give customers a taste of MS to highlight the urgent need for improved access to medicine and for the management of MS. Over 9,000 people are living with MS in Ireland, with thousands more family members affected, yet Ireland faces the worst access delays to new medicines in Western Europe. A new website - PatientsDeserveBetter.ie - was also launched to help those affected by MS demand quick and better access to new medicine.
THE MSUNDERSTOOD CAFÉ ROADSHOW
Following on from the success of the MSunderstood Café in March 2018 and the brilliant response we received from those who visited, we decided to bring the MSunderstood Café on the road in the form of a bus to various locations around the country!
The Café was adapted on a specifically designed bus to provide people with a unique insight into what it is like to live with MS and some of the challenges they may face on a daily basis.
In all the Café Bus was on the road for 10 days and visited 13 locations throughout the country and was an overwhelming success. It was brilliant to see so many people attend and spread awareness of what life is like living with MS. Check out the highlight video of the roadshow below! We hope the bus will make a reappearance in the not so distant future. So watch this space!!