Feasibility of a Vocational Rehabilitation Intervention for Job Retention in Workers With MS-RiaLSM Intervention Project (RialSM)

Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis; Vocational Rehabilitation

Treatments: Behavioral: Vocational Rehabilitation intervention for pwMS

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06805318

CET Liguria:329/2024-DBid13998

Grant BRic 2022, ID 31 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with both inflammatory and degenerative characteristics that affects approximately 136,000 people in Italy. The highest incidence of disease onset occurs between the ages of 20 and 40, which corresponds to the most productive period of a person's life. For this reason, one of the main social consequences of MS is the reduction or abandonment of work activity, which often begins in the early stages of the disease. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) interventions, as reported in the literature, are used to manage and reduce work-related difficulties. The goal of VR is to enable individuals who experience difficulties in performing work activities to access, find, and maintain employment. This approach is characterized by its multi-professional and multidimensional nature, involving different types of interventions carried out by various professionals in diverse settings.

The overall aim of the project is to define a Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) protocol to reduce work-related challenges and promote job retention for workers with MS within the Italian healthcare and social context. The intervention will be organised into three different areas: rehabilitation, reasonable accommodation and education. Participants will receive any of the three interventions or a combination of these. The study will involve a multidisciplinary team of doctors (e.g. neurologist, physiatrist), psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, and labour law experts who will be involved according to the subject's specific needs.

Enrollment: 30 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Confirmed MS diagnosis
• Age ≥18 years
• Currently employed at the beginning of the study entry
• Have worked at least one day in the last 12 months
• MSQ-Job >=15
• Written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Presence of other pathologies impacting on work productivity

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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30 participants in 1 patient group

VR intervention

Experimental group

Description:

This is a single-arm study. Therefore, the intervention will be conducted on the whole sample. The nature of the rehabilitation program will vary and will cover three different areas: the rehabilitation area, the reasonable accommodation area, and the educational and formative area. Participants can receive any of the three types of intervention, or a combination of these, based on individual needs.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Vocational Rehabilitation intervention for pwMS