Article

PURPOSE: To explore how persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience
participating in inpatient rehabilitation, and how it might provide psychosocial
benefits. METHOD: Ten participants with MS who had completed inpatient
rehabilitation in Norway and on Tenerife participated in two focus groups. A
semi-structured interview protocol was used. Data were analyzed using qualitative
content analysis informed by a phenomenological perspective. RESULTS: During
inpatient rehabilitation participants shared experiences with symptoms of the
disease, of social stigma and coping strategies. They communicated experiences of
living with MS and they created a sense of community, they became "colleagues".
This experience gave rise to mutual recognition of ability, impairment, self and
identity, and thus facilitated personal empowerment to counteract social stigma
through adequate coping strategies. CONCLUSION: Participating in inpatient
rehabilitation gave people with MS the possibility to exchange information and
communicate strategies for coping with the disease-related conditions and
societal demands. They established social relations recognizing each other's
resources. Participants felt equipped to make decisions and to mobilize
individual and collective resources. Recognition of the individual with both
ability and impairment can be a key to empowerment. Implications for
Rehabilitation In multiple sclerosis (MS), the clinical symptoms and the
unpredictability of the disease may have consequences for how patients relate to
self and to others, and hence how they perform socially. Stigmatization is
commonly experienced among people with MS. The recognition experienced from peers
create a sense of community. We recommend health care professionals to
acknowledge the importance of peer support for self, identity and empowerment in
MS.

Langue : ANGLAIS