TURIN – May 29 – Individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (SM) in the Piedmont region are supported by a robust and well-coordinated local network. This was a key takeaway from the Piedmont leg of Willchair, an initiative supported by Novartis in collaboration with the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association (AISM). Willchair revolves around a chair co-designed by Derek Castiglioni and people living with SM, symbolizing self-determination and independence.

The meeting, which included patients, clinicians, and representatives from regional institutions, highlighted that the approximately 10,000 Piedmont residents diagnosed with multiple sclerosis have access to a network of 19 hospital centers, with the Aou San Luigi in Orbassano serving as the regional reference center.

The Willchair event served as a reminder that the conference on the pathology promoted by AISM and Piedmont Region recently identified two primary objectives: implementing the PDTA (therapeutic regional assistance diagnostic path) and enhancing rehabilitation services, both outpatient and in-home, to provide continuous and structured support throughout all stages of the condition.

“AISM is present with a section in each province, true presidia to represent local specificities,” stated Chiara Lega, AISM national councilor and vice-president of the Turin section. “The network is there, there are professionals, even if they are less and less, while every year in Piedmont we register 250 new diagnoses.”

AISM is also involved in updating the PDTA, which aims to connect all services and ensure that responses are tailored to individual needs. Rehabilitation is considered essential and should begin early “to reduce and delay disability, improving the quality of life and reducing social costs,” Lega emphasized. “It is necessary to activate a preventive rehabilitation that helps to preserve residual skills” and compensate for deficits.

According to the AISM councilor, Willchair “created a concrete possibility for mutual listening between people with SM, clinicians and institutions.” Lega also highlighted the importance of permanently including a case manager “permanently in the centers” as part of a multidisciplinary approach that includes neurologists, psychologists, and nurses, observing that “often the nurses manage small problems during visits or therapies, promptly directing to the doctor: strategic roles for the care path. Building together means recognizing the individual needs Personalized answers.”