The NHSx Digital Health Partnership Award

Finding ways to provide more efficient, effective and scalable support for Parkinson's

Senior sitting alone in his living room and using mobile phone, credit: Rido, courtesy of Shutterstock

The NHSx Digital Health Partnership Award

Finding ways to provide more efficient, effective and scalable support for Parkinson's

Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 is the fastest growing neurodegenerative condition in the world. According to Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 UK there are currently 145,000 people in the UK living with Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 and every hour two people receive a diagnosis. With population growth and ageing, Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 UK estimate it will increase by nearly a fifth to 172,000 by 2030.

Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 not only affects those with the condition but also has a profound impact on carers, family and friends. Therefore, finding ways to provide more efficient, effective and scalable support is essential in its ongoing management.

The NHS hopes that digital tools, particularly wearable technologies, will support patient self-management and care at home and result in more timely treatment. It will also make the healthcare pathway more manageable and reduce pressure on the NHS. In order to accomplish this the NHS are giving our existing home-based care pathway project a cash injection of half a million pounds.

The project is being run by the 쫄챰뻣펄 and University Hospitals 쫄챰뻣펄 NHS Trust. Principal lead is Professor Camille Carroll, an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at University Hospitals 쫄챰뻣펄 and an Associate Professor in Neurology at the 쫄챰뻣펄. Co-lead on the project is Professor Edward Meinert from the Centre for Health Technology.

Launched in 2019, this unique Home Based Care pathway was co-designed by people with Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲, Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 clinicians and nurse specialists. It provides a novel innovative care solution combining at-home monitoring with the ability for patients to ask for healthcare practitioner input and support when they need it. To provide an objective measure of their Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 movement symptoms at home, patients wear a wrist-worn device called a Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 Kinetigraph (PKG), which is worn for six days. The information it collects is relayed to the Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 team who can look for signs that their medicines need changing or that other interventions might be needed. The device also buzzes to remind people to take medication, which they can confirm with a swipe. People on the pathway receive information about Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲, symptom tracking cards, a Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 passport to explain to others what is important about their Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲, and a phone number and email to contact directly for support.

People on the pathway are required to fill out 쫄챰뻣펄쁯en and paper쫄챰뻣펄� questionnaires to capture non-motor aspects of Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲, such as mood disturbances, bladder and bowel symptoms or difficulties with thinking and memory, for which therapy changes might also be needed. This relies on the postal system and the manual input of results.

Now the NHS funding boost is set to digitally integrate the various elements of the pathway into the patient쫄챰뻣펄셲 electronic records, working with partners at , TPP and . The new system allows a patient to complete their questionnaires electronically via an app, with their information being seamlessly uploaded to their digital record, ensuring the data is available to all involved in their care, allowing patients and clinicians to make better informed decisions.

Hundreds of patients are benefitting from the pathway in the 쫄챰뻣펄 scheme, which has ambitions to be rolled out across the country for the 145,000 people who have Parkinson쫄챰뻣펄셲 in the UK

Funding comes from the which supports collaboration with patient groups in order to develop new technology-based approaches to patient care.