Kokko A1, Ingves A2, Kettunen J1
1Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, 2Finnish Neuro Society, Helsinki, Finland
Background: Goals of an adaptation rehabilitation course are to empower and support coping for persons with chronic diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and to maintain functioning. During the rehabilitation process, a person realize how the disease affect his/her identity and restrict daily life, and learn how to improve status. Finnish Neuro Society arranges multi-professional adaptation courses for persons with MS that last 15 days, 6 hours/day during 4 months, and shorter courses that last 5 days, 3 hours/day during 4 months.
Purpose: Our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of the courses to participants' daily life, participation, social contacts, mobility and the image of themselves and to compare the effectiveness between the shorter and longer courses.
Methods: Twenty-two working aged female and male persons with MS participated in three longer, and 11 in two shorter courses. Participants experienced life situation and functioning were assessed with WHODAS 2.0 36 questionnaire (scale 0 to 270) before and after the course. The personalized course content took into account participants´ needs, expectations and goals (GAS).
Results: The groups were similar according to sex, age and functioning. The mean WHODAS score of the participants in the longer course was at baseline 109 points (SD 33), and after the course, it was 108 points (SD 28). Corresponding points among participants in the shorter course were 105 (SD 32) and 104 points (SD 37). Therefore, the mean change in both courses was small, and no difference in mean change in WHODAS between the two courses was observed (P 0.05). However, most of the participants had reached their goals, GAS T-score was 57, and participants' feedback was mostly positive. They were especially satisfied with the peer support from the other group members. Moreover, they improve their knowledge of how to cope with different problems, and how to manage their everyday life.
Conclusion(s): The direct effectiveness after an adaptation rehabilitation course in experienced life situation and functioning in persons with MS seems to be small. Despite this, most of the participants felt that they had improved their knowledge how to manage their everyday life.
Implications: The results of this pilot study gives us possibility to improve the effectiveness of MS rehabilitation.
Keywords: MS, adaptation course
Funding acknowledgements: No funding
Purpose: Our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of the courses to participants' daily life, participation, social contacts, mobility and the image of themselves and to compare the effectiveness between the shorter and longer courses.
Methods: Twenty-two working aged female and male persons with MS participated in three longer, and 11 in two shorter courses. Participants experienced life situation and functioning were assessed with WHODAS 2.0 36 questionnaire (scale 0 to 270) before and after the course. The personalized course content took into account participants´ needs, expectations and goals (GAS).
Results: The groups were similar according to sex, age and functioning. The mean WHODAS score of the participants in the longer course was at baseline 109 points (SD 33), and after the course, it was 108 points (SD 28). Corresponding points among participants in the shorter course were 105 (SD 32) and 104 points (SD 37). Therefore, the mean change in both courses was small, and no difference in mean change in WHODAS between the two courses was observed (P 0.05). However, most of the participants had reached their goals, GAS T-score was 57, and participants' feedback was mostly positive. They were especially satisfied with the peer support from the other group members. Moreover, they improve their knowledge of how to cope with different problems, and how to manage their everyday life.
Conclusion(s): The direct effectiveness after an adaptation rehabilitation course in experienced life situation and functioning in persons with MS seems to be small. Despite this, most of the participants felt that they had improved their knowledge how to manage their everyday life.
Implications: The results of this pilot study gives us possibility to improve the effectiveness of MS rehabilitation.
Keywords: MS, adaptation course
Funding acknowledgements: No funding
Topic: Neurology
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: Finnish Neuro Society
Ethics committee: Arcada Ethics Committee
Reason not required: All results used in this study were handed out only on paper and groupwise,without any details, nor identification knowledge were given to the researchers.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
