Arista Home Care Solutions & Therapy Advantage: Parkinson’s Home Health Program

What our Parkinson’s home health therapy program offers:

• Patient and family education on successful disease management including exercise, PD symptom management, diet and medication education
• Establishment of safe & individual progressive home exercise plan with focus on Parkinson’s-specific techniques
• Patient empowerment with resources to community support groups and exercise classes
• Timely follow up’s to monitor for disease changes

Benefits

• Increased patient/family satisfaction
• Decreased risk of re-hospitalizations and Parkinson’s related falls
• Improved functional outcomes
• Physician and referral source support

Therapy Program Highlights

Physical Therapy

• Gait & balance training with specialized techniques to address freezing and shuffling to reduce fall risk
• Establish safe & individual home exercise and functional mobility program
• Posture work to improve posture awareness and stability

Occupational Therapy

• ADL training with focus on safety and efficiency
• Training on activity modification (fine motor tasks, handwriting, cognitive strategies, etc)
• Adaptive equipment needs

Speech Therapy

• Parkinson’s-specific techniques to address vocal & facial changes related to PD
• Swallowing training, diet modification
• Cognitive assessment and dual task training

About Parkinson’s Disease:

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is progressive, complex neurodegenerative disease that affects multiple body systems. As healthcare continues to evolve and change, more patients are continuing to require care in their homes. It is imperative that therapy interventions address the specific and individual deficits of PD in order to maximize patient functional outcomes as well as knowledge of successful disease management.

• Parkinson’s Disease (PD) affects more than 1 million Americans.  Due to the increase in aging population and earlier diagnosing, this number is projected to increase to 12 million worldwide by 2040.^{1, 2}
• Ohio is a “hotspot” for Parkinson’s – high prevalence in the Great Lakes region, likely related to the region’s agricultural & industrial background. Note on map above, areas of red are highest PD prevalence then followed by orange, yellow and green^.2 
• Parkinson’s affects the messaging system of the brain.  People with PD lack the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine carries messages from the brain to the body.  Lack of dopamine causes messages to be sent too weakly or too slow.  This is why people with PD move slowly and process information slowly.³
• Parkinson’s Disease is highly responsive to therapy and exercise.  It is a CRUCIAL part of disease management. Use of Parkison’s-specific techniques can make a huge difference in their mobility and outcomes.

Living with Parkinson’s Disease: 5 Tips for Success

1. Create your Parkinson’s “Dream Team” – Engage the support of your family & friends. See out physicians and therapists who specialize in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. Our therapists at Arista have advanced training in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
2. Make EXERCISE a part of your life. Exercise in medicine for people with Parkinson’s.
3. Hydrate. Having adequate water intake helps your medications work optimally and helps your body move easier.
4. Take medications ON TIME and AS PRESCRIBED. Your Parkinson’s medications help improve your ability to move so it is important to stay on schedule.
5. Stay positive. Research shows that optimistic people are healthier people. You CAN live well with Parkinson’s Disease

• Home health services are covered by Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans and most private insurances.
• You will need an order from your doctor. We are happy to assist you with this!
• Please call Paula at Arista Home Care Solutions for assistance or questions about our Parkinson’s Home Health Therapy program.