The “Managing Fatigue” Programme – Experiences Shared by participants with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: The “Managing Fatigue” program can help participants manage fatigue in their everyday lives. The programme has been proven feasible with Swedish occupational therapists, but there is a lack of knowledge of how participants experience the programme.Aim: To describe how Swedish MS participants experience the content and structure of the Swedish MF programme, as well as lessons learned from participating in the programme.Material and Methods: Qualitative interviews were performed with nine MS participants, and data were analyzed according to direct content analysis.Results: Participants experienced programme material was relevant, and they valued the structured sessions that utilized different teaching forms. Participants described the group format and the experienced course leader nurtured their learning process. They said they learned occupational skills to save energy, to re-value daily occupations, and initiated a process of change, but individual support is needed after programme completion.Conclusion and Significance: Findings support programme feasibility among MS participants, and show the importance of being able to practice skills to handle fatigue in everyday life. Future studies should focus on which outcome measures that can best detect changes of engagement in occupations, and utilize these outcome measures when the effectiveness of the programme is evaluated