The Effectiveness of the Hope Therapy Approach on Group Happiness in General Health and Hope of Women Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Kermanshah in 2021

Multiple sclerosis is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting the central nervous system. The chronic nature of the disease, the unknown prognosis, the uncertain treatment, and the involvement of the individual at a young age lead tonumerous psychosocial consequences for these patients. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of group intervention based on the hope therapy approach in general health and hope of patients with MS.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group. The study population included all women with MS under the auspices of the Kermanshah MS Association, among which 30 people were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two equal groups of 15 people. Data were collected using a checklist of demographic information, General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979), and Hope Questionnaire (Herth, 1989). The hope-based therapy program was administered to the experimental group for 1/5 hours in 8 weekly sessions, but the control group did not receive this program. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

Data analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the experimental and control groups (p<0.05) so that the hope therapy program promotes hope (F= 8.40, p<0.012, Eta= 0.619) and general health in the experimental group (F= 23.42, p<0.008, Eta= 0.631). Moreover, the mean scores of anxiety, depression, social functioning, and physical symptoms in the experimental group showed improvement in the post-test.

It seems that, as a treatment of choice, group hope therapy is effective in improving the level of hope and promoting the general health of MS patients. Therefore, the use of psychological interventions in therapeutic settings is recommended.