SAN FRANCISCO (August 9, 2017)—People living with Parkinson’s disease can now have the latest care recommendations incorporated into their personal care plans thanks to a partnership between Home Care Assistance, a provider of in-home care for seniors, and the Parkinson’s Foundation. Home Care Assistance care teams, including the highly trained and credentialed experts who coordinate services for seniors and their families, can now incorporate the foundation’s latest research into customized care plans for clients with Parkinson’s.
“Since our founding, we have drawn on the latest scientific research to influence our approach to care,” said Lily Sarafan, CEO of Home Care Assistance. “We’re thrilled to be working closely with the Parkinson’s Foundation to evaluate which personalized care options allow Parkinson’s patients to have the best quality of life by leveraging the organization's renowned expertise to deliver the best possible care to our clients.”
One example of how the foundation’s research will be used in the home is through the alignment of medication and meal times. Many people living with Parkinson’s have challenges with chewing and swallowing food, and while medication can alleviate this, the beneficial effect of each medication dose wears off over time.
“The Parkinson’s Foundation points out that timing meals to coincide with peak medication effectiveness allows patients to have the most satisfactory experience, both in terms of getting the nutrition their bodies need and in doing as much as they can to feed themselves, so Home Care Assistance works with families and caregivers to schedule meals and medication dosages appropriately,” explained Katie Roper, VP of Health Care Strategy & Partnerships at Home Care Assistance.
“We are excited to kick off this partnership with Home Care Assistance and provide research findings that will help inform care plans,” said John L. Lehr, chief executive officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “Partnerships like this one are part of our mission to make life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure.”
Visit homecareassistance.com and parkinsonsfoundation.org for more information.
