Professional Skills Development Project for People with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disabling disease that affects people of working age and impacts employability.

Objectives: To present a professional skills development project for people with MS.

Methods: The Brazilian Multiple Sclerosis Association (ABEM) entered into a partnership with the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE), a private entity for training and promoting development. Subsequently, the free training program was disseminated throughout the Brazilian territory. The program consisted of seven remote meetings that addressed the topics of emotional intelligence, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, business idea and company formalization.

Results: 755 registrations were obtained from people with MS, residing in 22 Brazilian states. Of these, 418 (55.36%) regularly participated in the meetings, completed the program and received a Certificate of Participation. All received didactic material and had a technical team for the application of classes, lives and calls. The Training Program promoted entrepreneurship, increased self-knowledge, enabled a greater network of contacts, awakened competitiveness in business and guided financial credit.

Conclusions: The project to develop professional skills for people with MS is a pioneer in Brazil and was successfully implemented as a result of the partnership. Participants acquired knowledge, tips and information that optimized their personal skills and instrumented their ideas to decide on their professional future.