Creating Satisfying Engagement in Daily Life Through Coaching for People With Multiple Sclerosis

Dorothy Kessler

Status: Completed

Conditions: Quality of Life; Multiple Sclerosis

Treatments: Behavioral: Occupational Performance Coaching

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04908085

6032454

Details and patient eligibility

About

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease that negatively impacts a person's ability to participate in a wide range of important and meaningful activities1-4. MS rehabilitation interventions often focus on reducing symptoms, with the assumption that fewer symptoms will lead to improved participation in daily activities5-8. Yet, literature shows that engagement in necessary and desired activities requires more than symptom reduction - it requires people with chronic diseases like MS to apply their knowledge and skills to a complex self-management process9-11 that balances personal values, and activity and environmental demands. Core self-management skills include self-monitoring, problem-solving, decision-making, goal setting, action planning, and the ability to adjust plans when necessary12. Looking beyond MS, coaching interventions have enabled people with stroke13-16, traumatic brain injury17, and Parkinson's disease18, 19 to develop self-management skills and achieve personally meaningful activity goals. Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) is a well-developed form of coaching that builds competence in core self-management skills and improves participation in daily activities20, 21. The investigator's preliminary work indicates that OPC is an acceptable and feasible intervention for people with MS22. The investigators now must determine if OPC reduces the impact of MS on participation in daily activities and increases the satisfaction of people with MS in performance of personally important daily activities. Therefore, the investigators will conduct a waitlist-control randomized clinical trial (RCT) with 30 adults with MS to determine if receipt of six OPC sessions improves participants' satisfaction with performance in daily activities (primary outcome). The investigators will also examine whether OPC reduces illness intrusiveness (MS impact), improves resilience, and improves autonomy and participation (secondary outcomes).

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• able to participate in coaching in English.

Exclusion criteria

1. serious cognitive impairment as indicated by a score of 10 or more on the Short Blessed Test,
2. severe depression as measured by the PHQ-2
3. are receiving life, health or executive coaching by a certified coach

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

31 participants in 2 patient groups

OPC

Experimental group

Description:

Occupational Performance Coaching delivered by telephone

Treatment:

Behavioral: Occupational Performance Coaching

Waitlist control

No Intervention group

Description:

Intervention provided after post intervention assessment