If you or someone you care about is living with multiple sclerosis (MS), you may feel overwhelmed by how much you need to understand and do to manage the condition. From assessing multiple symptoms and learning about various treatment strategies to maintaining independence and preserving emotional health, it’s a challenge that no one should tackle alone.

We are here to help.

Having access to high-quality care, education and resources from experienced medical, rehabilitation, social work and mental health professionals makes all the difference—and at the Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation MS Program, we’re committed to seeing that every patient has that opportunity. Here you’ll find:

Experienced rehab specialists who have been nationally recognized for their work.

The ability to put world-class testing and treatment technologies to their best use in patient care.

A dedicated team of professionals who work together as advocates to place patients first.

A collective passion for excellence and continuous improvement.

Improving function and quality of life for individuals with disabilities is what drives all of us, every day.

Comprehensive, Patient-Centered Support

When it comes to MS, we recognize that each patient’s symptoms and needs are different. Drawing on our extensive array of specialists affiliated with Jefferson, we develop an individualized approach for each patient, coordinated by an MS patient navigator and a team that can include (where appropriate):

• A physiatrist (physician who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation) with specific expertise in MS
• MS-certified physical, occupational and speech therapists
• MS nurse specialists
• Neurologists
• Nurse practitioners
• Psychiatrists
• Social workers
• Gynecologists
• Orthotic specialists
• Ophthalmologists
• Radiologists
• Urologists
• Vocational and rehabilitation counselors

A Patient Guide for Navigating Care

Since people with MS often interact with a number of care providers, the work of coordinating care and searching for appropriate resources can become a staggering task. To help lessen that load, a navigator guides each patient and his or her family members, connecting them with:

• Appropriate care providers and counselors
• Educational resources
• Support, advocacy and wellness programs
• Our full offering of healthcare services that an MS patient may need

To ensure the proper medical attention is received, the MS patient navigator will help guide you through the continuum of care by connecting you to appropriate services at Jefferson and Einstein Medical Center, as well as assist with identifying transportation resources.

Specialized Diagnostic Labs

Jefferson is a leader in properly diagnosing the causes of functional issues common to those with MS. Treatment through our MS Program may depend upon testing which can be completed in our specialized diagnostic labs.

Jefferson’s Sheerr Gait and Motion Analysis Lab is the first specialized lab of its kind in the region. In the Gait Lab, a patient’s walking patterns are analyzed using advanced equipment to identify the causes of walking problems, allowing physiatrists to recommend treatments and measure a patient’s progress.

Using the sophisticated tools of our Motor Control Analysis Laboratory, specialists identify how much control patients have of their arm and hand muscles and movement. They also determine muscle tone weakness or tremors and establish benchmarks to help measure improvements made through corrective physical, medical and surgical therapies.

In the Electrodiagnostic Center, our physiatrists evaluate brain, nerve and muscle function using advanced clinical neuro-physiology and computer technologies. Based on these test results, they can diagnose nervous system disorders, locate sites of damage and evaluate a patient’s condition after treatment or surgery.

High-Tech Healing

Our international reputation has been built on the strength of its people and its use of the most advanced technologies—including several specialized robotic devices not available in many other facilities—to help patients take back control of their lives. Some tech-based therapies include:

Reo^TMTherapy, a robotic repetitive-motion training technology. Patients target images on a video screen using a robotically assisted joystick that they gain increasing control over as they build strength through repeated movement.

Armeo®Spring, a robotic device that helps patients with limited arm function restore movement by initiating various motions while interacting with a computer-based virtual environment.

Armeo®Power, the world’s first commercially available robotic arm exoskeleton (a mechanical, wearable frame powered by motors or hydraulics) that helps people regain motor abilities in their hands and arms by teaching the brain to re-learn activities through repetition. This innovative technology features game-like exercises that duplicate typical daily activities, giving patients varying levels of arm weight support as needed and opportunities for independent practice while helping therapists track their progress. Jefferson is proud to be the first facility in the United States to use ArmeoPower.

G-EO System Evolution, a robotic device that helps patients walk by realigning their gait and correcting balance disorders. With a look that suggests a combination stair- stepper and elliptical machine, the G-EO enables users to walk on an incline or decline and relies on sophisticated computer sensors to provide different levels of assistance based on patient needs. Jefferson is the only facility in the nation to offer therapy using this device.

SMART Balance Master®, a visual biofeedback device used in our Balance and Vestibular Center to measure how well the eyes, inner ear, muscles and joints are working together to maintain balance.

LiteGait®, a gait training device that helps patients with a wide range of functional levels simultaneously control their posture and balance while on a treadmill. LiteGait reduces the negative effects of weight-bearing movement, eliminates concerns for balance and facilitates the training of coordinated leg movement.

Programs and Therapies

We offer several high-quality programs and therapies designed to help patients reduce muscle spasms and pain, re-establish or maintain motor function and mobility, and learn adaptive techniques to keep them moving and connected.

Intrathecal baclofen therapy helps relax muscles and relieve spasms and cramping through delivery of the medication baclofen directly into a patient’s back in the space containing spinal fluid. Because the drug doesn’t circulate throughout the whole body, smaller doses are needed, and the side effects often experienced by patients who take baclofen as a pill are minimized. Jefferson is one of the region’s most experienced providers of this advanced therapy.

Our Driving Program is a state-licensed program that provides driver evaluation and training in specially equipped vehicles for persons with disabilities. Jefferson’s driving trainers, who are certified by the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists, assess functional abilities and reaction time and help even the most severely limited individuals learn how to be safe, effective drivers.

Low vision rehabilitation therapy helps people experiencing visual problems due to MS learn how to continue enjoying activities of daily living with the help of occupational therapists, adaptive strategies, computer-based devices and electronic visual enhancements.

Massage therapy by certified massage therapists improves patient health by relaxing muscle spasms, increasing flexibility and range of motion, stimulating endorphin release to reduce discomfort and improve emotional well-being, encouraging blood flow to build healthy tissue, and relieving chronic fatigue.

Assistance with wheelchair selection can be provided, when needed, through the Jefferson Wheelchair Evaluation and Seating Clinic. Our therapists work with a physiatrist to determine individual patient needs and choose the most suitable wheelchair according to those needs, ensuring comfort and proper fit through a pressure mapping system. We also educate patients on the correct and safe use of their wheelchairs and recommend any accompanying equipment that will increase their mobility and overall quality of life.

Supplemental Support

Support Groups

Knowing how helpful it can be for people living with MS and their families to share information, concerns and successes with others in the same situation, we connect patients and their family members with support groups meeting at various Jefferson facilities or other community locations.

Physical Maintenance Program

Patients can improve their overall health and fitness by enrolling in our circuit-training program, which focuses on cardiovascular endurance, balance, leg strength and range of motion in the hips and ankles.

oMS Yoga
oMS Yoga helps people better manage the symptoms of MS. This free weekly program combines yoga and meditation to awaken your potential, empower your confidence and inspire the possibility in your mind, body and spirit. Learn more.