Occupational therapy for MS

What is MS occupational therapy?

Occupational therapists work in health and social care. They support people with lots of different conditions, including MS. Occupational therapy can help with physical, mental and emotional symptoms.

An occupational therapist can:

• help you find new ways to do things that are important to you
• suggest changes to your physical environment (at home or at work)
• provide activities, exercises, strategies and equipment to help you keep doing everyday activities for as long as possible

They can also support you with adaptations to your home, or with finding a new home if that’s more suitable.

The benefits of occupational therapy for MS

Multiple sclerosis occupational therapy interventions can help you cope with common MS symptoms. They can also help with some of the everyday effects of living with MS.

Fatigue

An occupational therapist can help you find patterns in your fatigue and see when it affects you most. Then they can look at your daily routine with you and suggest ways to structure activities with rest. So you can maximise your energy levels in a way that works best for you.

You might find our flexible online fatigue management course helpful with this too.

Pain, unusual sensations and tremors

An occupational therapist can assess you and recommend techniques to manage tremors and sensory problems like numbness or pain. For example, they can help you identify what makes your tremors worse, and find ways to counter them.

Balance problems and avoiding falls

An occupational therapist can help boost your confidence with walking and moving about if you have balance problems. They can: 

• assess things at home, at work, or in an outdoor environment 
• give advice to reduce your risk of falling
• help identify obstacles that could cause falls
• show you how to get up safely if you do fall
• recommend equipment or aids to help you to stay steady on your feet

Working life

An occupational therapist can help you identify areas in your work where adjustments might help. They can tell you about government support that’s available to help you: 

• at work
• travel to and from work
• find work

They can advise your employer on ‘reasonable adjustments’ for your work, if these are needed.

Read more about working and MS

Driving and getting around in a car

An occupational therapist can help you feel safe and confident if you drive. And they can suggest ways to keep using a car if you’re a passenger. They can arrange a specialist driving assessment to see if there are adaptations to the car that could help you drive. They can show you techniques and recommend equipment to help you get in and out of your car independently.

Read more about driving and car adaptations

Emotional support

An occupational therapist can support you and your family to live positively. Occupational therapy focuses on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. For example, they can help you make personal, achievable goals.

Cognitive support – memory and thinking

Occupational therapists can help with cognitive assessments – checking if changes to memory or thinking affect any of your everyday tasks. Then they can suggest ways to adapt. They can teach you skills to keep you doing things that are important to you.

And if you and your loved ones are planning ahead for different possibilities, they can help with that. For example, helping you get support for things like lasting power of attorney or mental capacity assessments.

Occupational therapy assessments for multiple sclerosis

Occupational therapy assessments help to identify challenges with everyday tasks. Then see if there are changes that could help. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all for an occupational therapy assessment. It’s about you, with your MS and your specific circumstances. Occupational therapists work with people with all types of MS. An occupational therapist will want to know what you want to achieve, help you set realistic goals, and find ways to get there. 

How to find an occupational therapist for multiple sclerosis

Finding an occupational therapist for MS varies from place to place. But there are often several ways to access them:

• Ask your GP, nurse, social worker or other health or social care professional to refer you
• Self-refer to a social services occupational therapist by contacting your local council or, in Scotland, the social work department
• At work, you could ask your HR department or occupational health department. Occasionally they can refer you to an occupational therapist
• Arrange a private consultation with an independent occupational therapist (they will charge you a fee)

Find a local independent occupational therapist on the Royal College of Occupational Therapists website