Parkinson’s Disease Evidence Review

This prestigious guideline on Parkinson’s Disease (PD) treatment, that we’ll be covering in this podcast episode, recommends that rehab therapies are started at the time of diagnosis and continued throughout the disease course.

Sadly, as a profession we are underserving our clients with PD.

This article will update you on key information about the PD disease process, the pervasiveness of non-motor symptoms, and the effectiveness of different treatments.

The knowledge we are gaining about PD should definitely be impacting your sessions. (Hint: please be talking about exercise!) It should also be pushing us to consider new care models for our patients with chronic conditions. To discuss what this looks like in practice, it’s our honor to welcome back to the podcast Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP, CLVT. Brandy is an OT entrepreneur who serves older adults including PD clients.

Resources for Clients with Parkinson’s Disease

• LVST Big and Loud Program

• American Parkinson’s Disease Association

• Parkinson’s Foundation

Parkinson’s Disease Assessments

• Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire – 39 (PDQ-39)

• Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)

1. You will be able to identify the non-motor symptoms of PD that OTs can help manage.

2. You will recognize why the habit of exercise is such an important consideration for OTs in this area.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Real quick: why was this paper written?

  • Parkinson’s disease is one type of parkinsonism

  • What causes Parkinson’s disease?

  • Clinical presentation and symptoms for OTs to recognize

  • Subtypes of Parkinson’s disease

  • Diagnosis and Assessment

  • Treatment

  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with guest Brandy Archie)

  1. Can you tell us the story of how you found OT?

  2. Tell us about the different settings you’ve worked in where you saw Parkinson’s patients—and the main focus of your services in each.

  3. What were your initial impressions of the article?

  4. Parkinson’s disease has such a complex presentation. How can we introduce all of the areas OTs can help with our evals?

  5. What are your favorite ways to provide education to your patients?

  6. What does it look like to encourage our patients in the habit of exercise?

  7. What are some of your main considerations when you are recommending adaptations to the environment?

  8. What community resources should patients with Parkinson’s be considering getting plugged into?

  9. What would it look like for OTs to truly see Parkinson’s patients on a regular basis throughout the duration of this disease course?

  10. Do you think there are new business opportunities for OTs to focus on Parkinson’s utilizing telehealth?

Primary

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Parkinson Disease: A Review

Additional

• Long-term Effect of Regular Physical Activity and Exercise Habits in Patients With Early Parkinson Disease

• Physical therapy and occupational therapy in Parkinson’s disease

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OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Brandy Archie is founding director of AccessAble Living, which adapts home environments for older adults, and is developing AskSAMIE, an app that generates accessibility equipment recommendations.