The effect of occupational therapy intervention based on remotivation process on occupational competence in individuals with cancer-related fatigue

This study was planned to examine the effect of remotivation process on occupational competence to ensure that cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue who are in the process of change maintain and incorporate into their routines the self-management skills they can use for fatigue management. The study included 31 individuals who came to Ankara City Hospital Oncology Polyclinic for outpatient control. The socio-demographic and Clinical Characteristics Information Collection Form was used to collect sociodemographic information of the individuals, Occupational Self-Assessment (OSA) scale was used to assess occupational competence, Cancer Fatigue Scale (KYS) was used for fatigue, and QLACS (QLACS) was used for quality of life. The first interview was conducted face-to-face and the assessments were applied and a booklet containing fatigue management strategies was given to the individuals. Subsequent interviews were conducted over the phone to include fatigue management strategies for the discovery, competence and success phases of the Remotivation Process in a way to meet the needs of the individuals. In total, 4-8 sessions and 30-60 minutes interviews were conducted. Following the interviews, after the intervention and 6 months for follow-up, the evaluations were sent to the participants as an online questionnaire and the results were analysed. As a result of our study, a statistically significant difference was found between intervention and post-intervention measurements in OSA, KYS, QLACS scores (p<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between post-intervention and follow-up data (p>0.05). In the qualitative findings of the study, it was determined that the participants discovered fatigue, its effect on daily life, self-management efforts and readiness for change; gained competence with awareness and support, goal setting for strategies, barrier and facilitating factors, and gained success with self-assessment and personal development. The Remotivation Process, which emphasises therapist-person cooperation under the concept of volition to inform participants about post-cancer fatigue, to provide resources on what can be done, and to support them to integrate into their lives and maintain their self-management skills, provides sustainable positive gains in the direction of increasing the participants' oupational competence, fatigue and quality of life.