Ações desenvolvidas por terapeutas ocupacionais na atenção às pessoas com Esclerose múltipla

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational Therapists have training that encompasses knowledge in the health and social areas, which allows them to work in health promotion and disease prevention, in the development and rehabilitation of people in different contexts of daily life. People with multiple sclerosis constitute a portion of the population that can benefit from the work of occupational therapists. However, the complexity of multiple sclerosis, with its wide range of symptoms and implications, presents significant difficulties for occupational therapists in their interventions. Considering the impact of multiple sclerosis on everyday life, it is imperative that occupational therapists develop actions that minimize the physical and psychosocial impacts of multiple sclerosis. Objective: To investigate the actions/interventions and contexts in which occupational therapists develop their practices with people with multiple sclerosis, based on a scoping review of the literature. Method: This is a study in which two research methodologies were used. Initially, an exercise is carried out to construct an auto-ethnographic essay based on my experience as an occupational therapist with people with MS. In the second part of the work, a scoping review was developed with the aim of identifying the actions/interventions and contexts in which occupational therapists develop their practices with people with MS, both in Brazil and abroad. The scope review was carried out according to procedures recommended by the PRISMA-ScR protocol. The search was carried out in the databases Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional da UFSCar, Revista de Terapia Ocupacional da USP and Revista Interinstitucional de Terapia Ocupacional da UFRJ. Results: 1,365 records were found, from which, after relevant procedures, 32 articles published between 2005 and 2022 were selected. The articles point to the predominance of clinical studies focusing on functionality and disability. All studies describe interventions developed to evaluate or validate clinical intervention methods or instruments. Fatigue and cognitive deficits were the most investigated symptoms. Energy self-management and fatigue control, cognitive rehabilitation and physical rehabilitation were the most used intervention methods. Studies on physical activity, fall prevention, work, leisure and sleep were published less frequently. The prevalent procedures in the interventions were: educational lectures, discussion groups, cognitive rehabilitation, physical rehabilitation, yoga, relaxation, dance and sensory stimulation. Final considerations: Occupational therapists play important roles among the recommended interventions. Classic models and techniques in the occupational therapy repertoire have been used, both in individual approaches and in collective actions. Although studies on physical activity, fall prevention, work, leisure and sleep are less frequent, they highlight new intervention trends.