Personal identity and the role of 'carer' among relatives and friends of people with multiple sclerosis

This article is based on a study undertaken within the iPEx programme which presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research funding scheme (RP-PG-0608-10147). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors, representing iPEx, and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The iPEx study group is composed of: University of Oxford (Sue Ziebland, Louise Locock, Andrew Farmer, John Powell, Crispin Jenkinson, Rafael Perera, Braden O’Neill, Ruth Sanders, Angela Martin, Laura Griffith, Susan Kirkpatrick, Nicolas Hughes, Laura Kelly, Alison Naughten and Nikki Newhouse). University of Warwick (Fadhila Mazanderani). University of Northumbria (Pamela Briggs, Elizabeth Sillence, Claire Hardy). University of Sussex (Peter Harris). University of Glasgow (Sally Wyke). Department of Health (Robert Gann). Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (Sula Wiltshire). User advisor (Margaret Booth). The authors also gratefully acknowledge the contributions made to this work by the study participants and Advisory Panel. Thanks also to Dr. Sara Ryan for helpful critical commentary on a draft of the article.Peer reviewedPublisher PD