Telephone advice services provide a significant contribution to patient self-management. When setting up a telephone service it is particularly important to manage the expectations of the users and to plan and manage the service correctly.

This guidance has been developed by a team of Parkinson's Disease (PD) experts, in conjunction with Healthy Alliance to give practical advice for nurses and other healthcare professionals who provide, or are developing, telephone advice services for people with PD.

This publication is sponsored by GlaxoSmitKline.

For more information please contact healthyalliance@gsk.com

Patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) often do not receive their medication promptly when admitted to hospital especially when admitted as an emergency. Often this is because nurses and junior doctors are not aware of the special issues concerning medication in PD patients.

Educating emergency junior doctors and nurses about PD is crucial if the management of PD is to be improved in acute hospitals. Teaching about the importance of patients with PD receiving their medication at the correct time is particularly important.

A simple ‘credit card’ sized checklist has been developed to reinforce learning and act as an ‘aide memoire’.

The checklist was evaluated by means of a questionnaire sent to 30 doctors and nurses and found to be popular, useful, relevant and convenient.

Using simple teaching aids such as this in an emergency setting can help to improve the management of PD in hospitals.

The Parkinson's Disease (PD) Atlas has been developed by the Healthy Alliance, a collaboration between GlaxoSmithKline and the Parkinson's Disease Society (UK), to provide a dedicated package of support and training for clinicians working in PD such as specialist doctors and Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialists (PDNS) in explaining PD to patients and other healthcare professionals.

The format of the Atlas encourages an interactive approach and recognises that people with Parkinson’s need to have as much information as possible about the condition and treatments that are available.

As Parkinson’s is a long term, degenerative neurological condition, each person with Parkinson’s requires treatment and support that are responsive, able to address both new and developing symptoms and tailored to individual needs. This Atlas encourages health care professionals to make sure that integrated services are made available to support people with Parkinson’s at each stage of the patient’s journey.

This publication is sponsored by GlaxoSmitKline.

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