Challenges, Needs, Rewards, and Psychological Well-Being of Multiple Sclerosis Support-Group Facilitators

Abstract

Support groups are an important resource for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, little is known about the effect of leadership on support-group facilitators, despite their importance in producing positive group-member outcomes. The current study assessed the needs, challenges, rewards, and psychological well-being of 61 MS support-group facilitators (56% response rate), with purpose-designed and standardized measures. On the whole, participants did not display significant difficulty with group leadership, had good psychological well-being, and found their work highly rewarding. However, one third of leaders reported a lower level of personal accomplishment, which is suggestive of burnout. Leadership training, resources, and support were identified as the main areas of concern. Significant predictors of a higher number of challenges among MS facilitators included being male, not receiving formal supervision, and spending more time running MS group meetings per week. Further investigation of MS support-group facilitators who display lower levels of personal accomplishment and those who have decided not to continue in their role is required to elucidate the predictors of group dissipation and support/training needs of group facilitators.