The "Managing Fatigue" programme - Experiences shared by MS participants.

Abstract

Background: The "Managing Fatigue" (MF) programme can help people living with Multiple sclerosis (MS) manage fatigue in their everyday lives. The programme has been proven feasible with Swedish occupational therapists, but there is a lack of knowledge of how MS participants experience the programme, and what they learned from participating in the programme.

Aim: To describe how Swedish MS participants experience the content and structure of the Swedish MF programme, as well as what they learned from participating in the programme.

Material and methods: Qualitative interviews were performed with nine MS participants, and data were analysed according to direct content analysis.

Results: Participants experienced programme material was relevant, and they valued the structured sessions that utilised different teaching forms. Participants described the group format and the experienced course leader nurtured their learning process. They learned occupational skills to save energy, to re-value daily occupations, and initiated a process of change, but individual support is needed after programme completion.

Conclusion and significance: Findings support programme feasibility among MS participants, and show the importance of being able to practice skills to handle fatigue in everyday life. Future studies should consider adding outcome measures focussing on engagement in occupations when evaluating programme effectiveness.