CRAMMS trial - Participant FAQs

At the moment we don't know whether the rehabilitation programme will help to improve memory and attention. By running this trial we will be able to find out whether the rehabilitation programme has an effect on memory and attention and the information we get from this study may help us to treat people with MS and attention and memory problems better in future.

No. Everyone participating will continue to have access to the services and healthcare that they would normally have. This means you can continue to attend hospital and GP appointments, MS group meetings, home visits etc. as you normally would.

Group sessions are normally held in your community or at your local hospital site if this is more convenient. The location, time and day will vary for each group. All participants are required to state their availability for the treatment sessions, should they be randomly selected to receive them. Once we know people's availability, we can form a group who can attend at the same time.

The initial telephone call takes about 15 minutes. The first and second assessments will take about 1.5 hours each. Before the second appointment, you will be sent questionnaires to complete at home. To complete the questionnaires takes around 30 minutes. If you are in the usual clinical care group then you will not have to do anything else until you 6 month follow-up appointment. It you are in the cognitive rehabilitation group you will be invited to attend 10 sessions each lasting 1.5 hours. Irrespective of the group you have been allocated to you will have follow-up visits at 6 and 12 months. These last approximately 1.5 hours each.

The assessments at the start and end of the trial can be done at your home to reduce your need to travel. For the group sessions, we try to hold groups locally to you, again to reduce the amount of travel. Reasonable travel expenses, for taxis for example, will be reimbursed.

Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed. Please keep any travel tickets or receipts, and present them to the Assistant Phycologist who will be able to reimburse you.

Yes. Sometimes participants have to miss sessions because they are on holiday, unwell or having a relapse. If you miss a session you can carry on with the programme, and you'll also be invited to attend the next session early, to go through anything you've missed.

It is important that the answers you give during assessments reflect how you feel and are not influenced by others. So wherever possible, we ask that you complete the assessments alone with the Assistant Psychologist, or attend the group sessions without your friend/relative/carer.

However, if it would be necessary or if you prefer your friend/relative/carer to be present, we just ask that they don't interrupt the session or correct any answers that you've given.

Yes. We try to choose venues with a waiting area or coffee shop nearby for those waiting for participants, although this isn't always possible.

Yes. Please let your Assistant Psychologist know that you require a letter to inform your workplace that you are attending sessions as part of the trial.

The aim of this study is to compare a group cognitive rehabilitation programme with usual clinical care. We will assess the usefulness of the rehabilitation in reducing memory and attention problems and what it would cost to deliver this programme in the NHS.