Improving medicine concordance in a patient with Parkinson’s and dementia: a case study
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Improving medicine concordance in a patient with Parkinson’s and dementia: a case study

Claire Soper Community Parkinson’s nurse specialist, community nursing, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Exeter, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To improve your knowledge of the role of antiparkinsonian medicines in controlling symptoms

  • To understand why medicines concordance can be challenging for people with Parkinson’s and dementia

  • To familiarise yourself with the benefits of multidisciplinary working in people with Parkinson’s and dementia

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition characterised by a range of debilitating motor and non-motor symptoms and often leading to the development of Parkinson’s dementia. People with Parkinson’s need to take antiparkinsonian medicines at frequent and regular intervals to control their symptoms. However, concordance with medicines is often suboptimal, with some people taking excessive doses to alleviate their symptoms or forgetting to take their medicines. For people with Parkinson’s living at home, monitoring and support from a community Parkinson’s nurse specialist (CPNS), in coordination with local services, can assist them in managing their medicines and enable them to remain safely in their own home.

This article discusses the case of one patient and the interventions provided to her over a six-month period by the CPNS, alongside the community multidisciplinary team, to improve her medicine concordance and ensure her safety.

Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2021.e1301

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

Claire.soper@nhs.net

Conflict of interest

None declared

Soper C (2021) Improving medicine concordance in a patient with Parkinson’s and dementia: a case study. Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2021.e1301

Published online: 21 April 2021

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