The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America is proud to introduce the latest edition of The Motivator, available now in both print and digital versions! This edition’s cover story, “Home and Lifestyle Modifications for Safety and Accessibility,” covers various strategies for better living at home – from strategically placed grab bars for safety, to building ramps and widening doorways for increased accessibility. Learn about easy DIY changes you can make, as well as tips on how to choose the right handyman to make any larger changes to your home.

Also included in this edition:

• Organization updates from MSAA President and CEO, Gina Ross Murdoch
• MSAA’s Chief Medical Consultant, Dr. Jack Burks, answers reader’s questions
• MS research news updates, and much more!

Read an excerpt from our cover story here:

I remember skipping down the stairs and leaping over the baby gate at the bottom with my hands full of laundry. Then I’d run down another flight of steps to the basement to fill the washer before sprinting back up with the wet sheets. With one arm full of wet sheets and the other grasping my son, I’d jump down the back steps and hang the sheets on the clothesline. And that was all before breakfast.

I never dreamed that a few years later, I’d be stranded on my front landing, unable to get down the two steps without holding onto my husband. I certainly never imagined that I’d get stuck in my bathtub, unable to stand up without my husband to pull me out.

Over time, I found solutions to some of the obstacles I was experiencing. Some remedies were not difficult. For instance, I learned that showering was easier than taking a sit-down bath. When the time came that I needed to sit while bathing, I purchased a shower chair at a medical supply store. When the single railing on our inside staircase became too difficult for me to navigate, purchasing a second railing at a home-improvement store was a simple fix.

Continue reading the cover story at support.mymsaa.org/motivator to learn more about home and lifestyle modifications you can use to make your home more accessible.