Parkinson’s Training Class

On August 30th we were honored to have Barbara Solowiej host a training session all about Parkinson’s Disease for our caregivers at our offices in Berlin!

Barbara Solowiej is a licensed physician and geriatric care manager with a strong clinical background in geriatric healthcare. She has over 15 years of experience and works with senior clients as well as a geriatric care teaching supervisor.

This training included an overview on Parkinson’s disease, during which our caregivers learned the answers to some of the more frequently asked questions about the condition.

What is Parkinson’s Disease?
What are the causes of Parkinson’s Disease?
What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease?
What are the ore extreme symptoms of PD?
How do you diagnose and what are the treatment options for Parkinson’s disease?
How can you care for clients with PD at home?
What are some useful tips for a client suffering from PD?

Parkinson’s Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive, neurological disease that mainly affects movement but can also affect cognition. Parkinson’s disease results from the destruction of nerve cells in a part of the brain called the basal ganglia.

The most important thing to recognize is that Parkinson’s normally does not affect a person’s life expectancy, yet can severely disrupt their quality of life as the person loses control over their body’s movements.

Most patients will be given various medications to manage the disorder, and many studies are finding that early use of dopamine-boosting medications may improve patients’ well-being at the first stages of the disorder. Dopamine is a keyword when it comes to Parkinson’s

Given that Parkinson’s leads to uncontrolled movements, caregivers and family doctors are expected to work closely with their patient and monitor the disorder progress of time. This can help doctors prescribe more effective medications, especially in the advanced stages to help make life easier for the patient. Given that many of these medications require patients to pay close attention to the duration of the medication’s effects, caregivers can help in managing the administration schedule.

Caregivers can learn more about assisting clients with Parkinson’s by visiting helpful websites like Caregiver.org and giving us a call!