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Abstract
Purpose
Caregivers of people with Multiple sclerosis (MS) face various challenges in the occupations of daily lives. We investigated the effect of an online occupational therapy program on the mastery and performance in caregivers of people with MS.
Method
In a single-blind randomized controlled trial twenty-four eligible caregivers of people with MS participated in the control and an occupational therapy group program. Caregivers completed The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and the Relative Mastery Scale (RMS) before and after the intervention and one-month later.
Findings
The level of performance, satisfaction and mastery were significantly improved in the intervention group after the intervention (p<.001) and there were significant differences in performance and satisfaction scores between the groups (p<.001).
Implications
Online Occupational therapy shows promising results in facilitating the adaptation process and improving caregivers’ performance and satisfaction levels.
Caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis face various challenges when engaging in their daily occupations.
Managing the challenges faced by caregivers as essential members of the treatment team contributes to improving their performance level in daily occupations and can finally enhance the quality of treatment interventions for patients.
Online delivery can overcome caregivers’ time constraints for attendance in the treatment centers for training.
Online occupational therapy can enhance mastery, occupational performance level, and satisfaction, and is recommended for caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge all the participants in this research who agreed to participate in this study and honestly provided their valuable experiences. Also, our thanks go to the Iran University of Medical Sciences for their official support and those who cooperated with the research project.
Author contributions
All authors collaborated at different stages of the research. The first, second, third and fourth authors were involved in developing the intervention, ethics board approval, recruitment, and delivery of the program. The first and fifth authors performed data analysis. The first, second and fifth authors were involved in reviewing findings and drafting the final manuscript for publication, and other authors supported revisions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).