Optimising Access to Vocational Rehabilitation for People With Multiple Sclerosis

NCT ID: NCT06966115

Last Updated: 2025-05-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-06-10
• Study Completion Date: 2027-12-01

Brief Summary

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often leave the workforce prematurely due to MS symptoms and difficulties managing workplace relationships and performance. Vocational rehabilitation (VR) can improve job retention outcomes for people with MS, but there is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions.

A psychologist and occupational therapist-delivered VR intervention was previously developed to support people with MS to remain in paid employment. This programme was tested in a community setting and within the UK National Health Service (NHS). The preliminary findings demonstrate that the intervention is highly acceptable to people with MS and their employers and helped participants with MS to meet their vocational goals. However, the study also identified various barriers (e.g., lack of staff, service structure, etc.) to delivering this programme more widely within a healthcare setting.

Because of this, patient and public involvement (PPI) representatives suggested testing the VR intervention within the services provided by MS charities. This approach could be beneficial to reach people with MS who might be in the earlier stages of the illness and looking for information or who have not considered discussing "work" with their healthcare providers.

Therefore, the VR intervention MSVR ("multiple sclerosis vocational rehabilitation") was adapted to be delivered by non-specialists working for MS charities. Over recent years, the practice of training non-specialists to deliver evidence-based and complex interventions has increased to reach communities where there is a lack of resources or to help increase the reach of these interventions.

This study aims to:

1. Explore the feasibility and acceptability of providing employment support through MS charities.

2. Determine the parameters for a future large-scale randomised controlled trial.

3. Explore the experiences of those receiving and delivering the MSVR intervention.

Sixty people with MS in paid employment will be recruited to receive support with employment tailored to their needs over six months. Participants with MS will be asked to complete a booklet of questionnaires with variables known to affect employment status.

Approximately 20 participants will be asked to participate in a feedback interview at the end of the intervention.

Conditions

Multiple Sclerosis

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

MSVR

Participants in the MSVR group will be asked to complete a questionnaire booklet to explore variables of interest.

Participants will then be invited to an optional semi-structured, feedback interview to provide qualitative information on their experience of the intervention.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Multiple Sclerosis Vocational Rehabilitation (MSVR)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

MSVR involves an initial assessment (including vocational goal setting), followed by up to 10 hours of individually tailored support over six months according to need. The support will focus on supporting the person with MS to remain at work by addressing topics such as:

• Understanding MS
• Advice on reasonable adjustments
• Support requesting reasonable adjustments
• Fatigue management
• Managing cognition at work
• Information about legal rights
• Disclosure
• Long-term career planning
• Managing mood difficulties
• Signposting to local and national resources. MSVR addresses the individual needs of the person with MS and offers advice remotely (e.g., via telephone, videoconference, or email). The sessions will be arranged at a time convenient for the person, and the support needed will vary according to the complexity of their workplace difficulties.

Control Group

Usual care

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Multiple Sclerosis Vocational Rehabilitation (MSVR)

MSVR involves an initial assessment (including vocational goal setting), followed by up to 10 hours of individually tailored support over six months according to need. The support will focus on supporting the person with MS to remain at work by addressing topics such as:

• Understanding MS
• Advice on reasonable adjustments
• Support requesting reasonable adjustments
• Fatigue management
• Managing cognition at work
• Information about legal rights
• Disclosure
• Long-term career planning
• Managing mood difficulties
• Signposting to local and national resources. MSVR addresses the individual needs of the person with MS and offers advice remotely (e.g., via telephone, videoconference, or email). The sessions will be arranged at a time convenient for the person, and the support needed will vary according to the complexity of their workplace difficulties.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Aged ≥18

2. Can give informed consent,

3. Can communicate in English,

4. Are in paid employment (including self-employed).

Exclusion Criteria

1. Planning to retire within the next 12 months.

2. Currently receiving vocational rehabilitation support from the NHS or other employer services.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 66 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Nottingham

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Blanca de Dios Perez

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

University of Nottingham

Nottingham, , United Kingdom

Countries

United Kingdom

References

De Dios Perez B, Kendrick D, das Nair R, Evangelou N, Newsome I, Radford K. Optimising access to vocational rehabilitation through multiple sclerosis charities: Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial. PLoS One. 2025 Jun 27;20(6):e0325570. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325570. eCollection 2025.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 40577335 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

184

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

FMHS 102-0325

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id