World Parkinson's Day
April 11th is World Parkinson’s Day and we’re wearing blue with the rest of the Parkinson’s community to raise awareness
World Parkinson's Day
World Parkinson’s Day
World Parkinson’s Day takes place every year on April 11th to raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease. We’re joining members of the Parkinson’s community in wearing blue to shine a spotlight on this disease. The Make it Blue campaign is being championed by Parkinson’s UK, the main support and research charity in the UK, with people up and down the country raising awareness and funds. In the UK there are more than 150,000 people currently living with Parkinson’s and as the world’s fastest growing neurological condition that number keeps on rising.
Our amazing Care Professionals have been out in blue all day spreading the word.
Home Instead Parkinson’s Care
Home Instead Parkinson’s Care
Here at Home Instead we work with many clients who are living with Parkinson’s and in 2021 we formed a partnership with Parkinson’s UK. The partnership, which you can read more about here, is all about collaboration. Together we’ve developed a bespoke Parkinson’s training programme for our Care Professionals that not only trains them on the condition itself but also how to better support those living with Parkinson’s in their own homes. Commenting on the partnership, Martin Jones the CEO of Home Instead said
“We want people to be able to live their life well at home, where they feel most comfortable. This is absolutely possible for someone who is living with Parkinson’s.
“By sharing our sector expertise with Parkinson’s UK we hope that families will realise that they do have a choice when it comes to care and that quality home care can really make a difference to people’s lives.
“This type of partnership between third and private sectors presents a really exciting dynamic as we look to shape the future of care and support.”
Parkinson’s Disease
People who have Parkinson’s have a shortage of the chemical Dopamine due to nerve cells no longer producing it as the cells are damaged or die. When the amount of Dopamine our body produces falls, a part of our brain that controls movement is no longer able to work as normal and this in turn leads to the types of symptoms we associate with Parkinson’s such as tremors. It’s important to know that the process of cell damage can take a long time and so symptoms can often appear slowly over time, change from one day to the next and affect different people in different ways. Some of the main symptoms are
- These are uncontrolled movements or shaking in part of the body
- When muscles can’t relax and can lead to balance problems
- Slowness of movement. You may notice tasks taking longer or walking steps growing shorter
There may also be non-physical symptoms such as
- Thinking and memory changes
- Depression
- Anxiety
If you’re concerned about any symptoms you should see your GP who can check them and refer you for further tests if required.
Research continues to find the cause of Parkinson’s but at the moment we believe it is linked to age, environment and genetics. We don’t yet have a cure but we do know how to help relieve some of the symptoms and help people maintain their quality of life. Generally they fall into three categories.
- Drug Treatments
- Therapies
- Physical Activity
For more information on Parkinson’s disease please see the NHS website and also Parkinson’s UK
At Home Instead we support our clients living with Parkinson’s in all three of the above areas and if you’d like to get in touch please follow the link below.