What did the study look at?
People recently diagnosed with MS often report fatigue, pain, depression and feelings of anxiety. Several types of programmes have been designed to minimise these symptoms, but there is limited research evidence to show how well they work. Previous studies have tended to measure only short-term benefits without investigating whether these can be sustained in the longer term.
The study explored the benefits of a ‘complex’ multi-dimensional preventative programme. Consisting of both psychology-led therapy and physiotherapy, this was designed to reduce the impacts of mental and physical symptoms in people recently diagnosed with MS. As well as helping participants accept their MS diagnosis, the programme aimed to build confidence and skills to self-manage the elements of MS that were likely to affect their daily lives.
Participants took part in a range of face-to-face interventions over six months. For the rest of the year, they continued with self-guided therapy and the self-management strategies they had learned.
Improving research through collaboration
Research collaborations are important to promote quality research to inform best practice in MS. This collaboration between Professor Kamila Rasova of Charles University Prague and UK-based physiotherapist Angela Davies Smith came about through RIMS, the European network for Rehabilitation in MS, which hosts conferences and special interest groups. Angela was not involved in the study itself, but brought her expertise in co-writing research papers on Multiple Sclerosis to help the team prepare the study paper for publication.
