People with Parkinson’s get their own specialist home care service

People with Parkinson’s in North Yorkshire now have their own specialist home care service, which includes joint working with GPs, district nurses, physiotherapists and other health and social care professionals.

Training session

The new specialist service has been launched by Carefound Home Care, which has worked with Parkinson’s UK, to ensure it is based on genuine expertise and the latest best guidance practice.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition that affects motor skills, speech and other functions. There are about 127,000 people in the UK with Parkinson’s, which equates to one person in every 500.

The home care workers all receive specialist training from Parkinson’s UK, including understanding and supporting symptoms such as speech problems, slowness of movement, tremors and reduced mobility.

They also receive separate training in medication management ensuring that they are competent in supporting clients’ personalized medication regimes.

Oliver Stirk, director of Carefound Home Care, said: “Retaining choice and control is hugely important for somebody living with Parkinson’s and for many the desire to remain at home in the community is key. However, achieving this often requires a truly specialist, personalised approach which includes joint working with GPs, district nurses, physiotherapists and other health and social care professionals. The training our team receives from Parkinson’s UK ensures we are able to provide this.

“We believe that our new Parkinson’s care at home service meets the need for a more focused approach to the condition and is available to families on either an hourly or 24-hour live in basis throughout the Harrogate, Ripon, Wetherby and North Leeds area.”

Gail Creswick, education and training officer at Parkinson’s UK, feels that health and social care professionals can make a big difference to the quality of life for somebody living with Parkinson’s - both directly and for the carers around them.

She said: “It’s great to be able to support Carefound Home Care in delivering our Parkinson’s training to their home care team which covers both the practical and emotional issues of daily life with the condition.”

Carefound Home Care is a provider of home care and dementia care services to elderly people in Yorkshire.

click here for more details or to contact Carefound Home Care (Harrogate)