Excellence in Healthcare Collaboration and Partnerships

Summary of work

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease and the leading cause of non-traumatic disability in young adults. Analysis of Shift.ms (a UK-based social network for people with MS) platform conversations and Roche social media listening showed people with MS experience many symptoms – such as brain fog, fatigue and sight problems – that are often ‘invisible’ to those around them.

To raise public awareness of these invisible symptoms and facilitate conversations about them within the MS community, Shift.ms developed the artistic and visceral short film ‘Hidden’ with support from Roche. The hidden symptoms of MS are very real to the film’s characters – they manifest as powerful, physical doppelgängers that have to be lived with every day.

Our Hidden MS campaign included a London red-carpet film premiere attended by members of the MS community and healthcare professionals, supported by digital and social media activations and Shift.ms ‘MS Reporter’ videos about hidden symptoms. To maintain momentum, we created a Hidden MS cinema congress stand at the largest European MS conference, ECTRIMS in Berlin.

Built around the real, everyday life of the ‘person’ – not the ‘patient’, Hidden MS delivered a powerful message matched to the demographics of the Shift.ms community and target audiences.

Judges' comments

Hidden MS is a clear and concise entry which showed evidence of successful partnerships, used a clear creative for an appropriate audience and will leave a lasting legacy.