Enhancing adherence to behavioural interventions - the role of psychology
Authors: Thomas, S.
Conference: MS Frontiers
Dates: 29-30 June 2015
Abstract:Enhancing adherence to behavioural interventions - the role of psychology While there is evidence of the effectiveness of rehabilitation and exercise programmes for people with MS, adherence to traditional programmes is often poor with effects not maintained in the longer time. People with long-term disabling conditions such as MS face multiple barriers to participation in rehabilitation and exercise programmes including physical (e.g. pain, fatigue, mobility limitations and overheating), psychological (e.g. fear, embarrassment and lack of confidence,) social (no one to exercise with, no one to provide encouragement) and environmental (transport, cost, lack of suitable facilities/trained staff) factors. Rehabilitation and exercise interventions are often brief and not designed in such a way that they could be readily implemented in ‘real world’ settings and longer term follow-up is uncommon. Adherence often drops off when supervised phases end and sometimes participants’ primary motivation for adhering during the study period is to please the investigators. In this presentation I will consider factors that might enhance engagement with rehabilitation and exercise interventions and how psychological theories and behaviour change techniques might offer a means to bridge the ‘intention-behaviour’ gap that we often observe. I will illustrate the potential relevance of psychological theories and behaviour change techniques and some of the challenges faced with examples from a recent feasibility study of a physiotherapist supported home-based Nintendo Wii intervention (Mii-vitaliSe) designed to increase activity levels in people with MS.
Source: Manual