Living with Parkinson’s disease can be emotionally, socially and physically demanding.

Whether you are adapting to the news of a recent diagnosis or managing the more advanced stages of this progressive disease, Bluebird Care’s experienced domiciliary care staff can provide you and your family with homecare and support that you can trust.

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Parkinson’s is one of the most common nervous system disorders of the elderly. One in every 500 people suffer from Parkinson’s disease in the UK – approximately 127,000. Onset is more common in people over 50 years of age, but it can also occur in younger adults if it is in the family.

Nerve cells in the brain use the chemical dopamine to help control muscle movement throughout the body. In Parkinson’s disease, the nerve cells that make dopamine are destroyed, making it impossible for the brain to send proper signals to muscles in the rest of the body.

What are the symptoms?

Many people will have noticed symptoms for some time prior to their medical diagnosis. These often begin with aching and stiffness or a mild tremor and a general feeling of fatigue and weakness.  Although there is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease, it is important to get an early diagnosis. This enables you to receive the right treatment, domiciliary care and support in order to continue living as normal life as possible.

Parkinson’s can affect one or both sides of the body. The progression of this disease and the impact will vary for each person. Some of the symptoms will be physical; such as tremors or involuntary shaking, slowing or stopping of movements and increasing stiffness. These can cause difficulties with automatic responses such as blinking or walking, talking, swallowing, co-ordination and balance. Other symptoms may be less obvious to the outside eye, but are equally debilitating such as bowel and bladder problems, difficulty sleeping, excessive sweating, anxiety and depression.

Bluebird Care’s support to you and your family

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, however, treatment, domiciliary care and support can help to manage the symptoms. For example, medicines to increase the levels of dopamine in the brain, physiotherapy and speech therapy. Lifestyle changes can also help, such as regular exercise and good nutrition and hydration.

At Bluebird Care, we aim to support you to live as well as possible through all of the changes to your condition. We listen to what is important to you and the goals that you wish to achieve. Together we create a domiciliary care plan that sets out how we will provide a specialised service that is tailored to your individual needs and preferences, allowing you to remain in the familiar surroundings of your own home. This might include:

• Support to continue with the social activities you enjoy
• Cognitive stimulation such as reading or talking
• Help with everyday tasks from getting dressed in the morning and having breakfast to taking a shower and getting ready for bed at night
• Making sure you have the medicines you need
• Support to maintain a healthy diet and to keep hydrated
• Assistance with housework, shopping and laundry
• Help with exercises to strengthen muscles and increase mobility
• Or up to 24 hour domiciliary care to give families and carers the opportunity to take a break.

Find out more about Parkinson’s disease from Parkinson’s UK.