Home Care & Parkinson’s Disease - Optimal Senior Care Solutions

Home Care in Newport Beach

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a disorder of the central nervous system that effects movement. PD can hinder the simplest routine tasks like bathing, eating and dressing. It is a brain disorder characterized by tremors and difficulty with movement, walking and coordination. It affects the part of the brain that controls movement and is primarily caused by a progressive deterioration of the nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement. This neural deterioration decreases the amount of dopamine released and dopamine plays a pivotal role in the transmitting nervous impulses across nerve cells. Without dopamine, nerve cells are unable to transmit impulses properly, resulting in loss of muscle function that manifests itself as rigorous tremors. Providing home care can present many challenges.

Let’s go through some care tips you need to know for loved ones affected with Parkinson’s disease:

Study to prepare yourself: It is important for caregivers to be knowledgeable about the disease itself. You can review the available literature online or visit your local library to read up on Parkinson’s. Whenever you take the patient to their medical appointment, make sure you ask any questions and voice your concerns to the doctor.
Improving your relationship: PD can be extremely challenging to foster a good, healthy relationship with the affected individual since the progression of the disease can completely transform a person. However, various studies have inferred that no matter how stressful circumstances maybe, effective caregivers can form a good relationship with the patients, which reduces their risk of depression and improves their physical health.
Get and stay organized: It is imperative that you maintain a track record of your loved one’s medication, their medical appointments and notes about expected change in symptoms. It is important to stay resourceful and organizing when providing home care to someone with Parkinson’s disease. It’s also a good practice to automate as many bills as you can so you don’t have to deal with the added burden of sifting through them yourself.
Home adaption: You need to cater to your loved one’s need by modifying your house according to their special needs. You may want to consider giving the affected individual walkers or canes to help walking. Parkinson’s disease causes a shuffling gait that can cause the individual to trip frequently. Make sure you remove all thick floor rugs from the house because they are relatively harder to walk on than bare hardwood floor. Furniture arrangement should allow the person on the wheelchair to access and exit any room of the house with ample available space. Place the table lamps so that their switch can be reached easily by the affected person.

Please visit our SeniorCare Plus page for additional information and resources regarding Parkinson’s Disease.