282580
Parknc: Enhancing parkinson's care and creating a state-wide referral network
Lindsay Prizer, MSW, LCSW,
Department of Health Promotion & Behavior, College of Public Health, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Nina Browner, MD,
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Jessica Katz, MSW, LCSW-A,
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Parkinson's disease (PD), a complex neurodegenerative disorder, requires support from a variety of specialized healthcare professionals and resources. However, few healthcare organizations can accommodate such a wide range of services onsite, referring out patients for additional care. To meet the needs of patients throughout North Carolina, the Movement Disorders Center at UNC Chapel Hill developed a referral network program based on the Chronic Care Model to expand and connect specialized services for PD. Aims of the program included: 1) creating an on-site interdisciplinary PD clinic, 2) working with community stakeholders to enhance PD-specific knowledge of NC healthcare personnel, and 3) connecting patients to their local expert care providers through the ParkNC website. Three hospital departments collaborated to create the Interdisciplinary PD clinic, which has assessed patients from a total of ten NC counties and four states in the two years since development. The UNC team worked with home health agencies and rehabilitation centers throughout NC to recruit allied health professionals for specialized training and inclusion in the ParkNC referral network. This growing network of 73 healthcare professionals serves two primary functions: providing referral services and resources to patients, and offering PD education to professionals. ParkNC.org receives approximately 350 unique visitors monthly, and has logged over 2,500 visits in the six months since the site launched in 2012. ParkNC can serve as a model for other states to develop similar networks to improve the quality of care for the more than 1 million individuals living with PD in the United States.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Other professions or practice related to public health
Provision of health care to the public
Learning Objectives:
Describe the implementation of a specialized Parkinson’s referral network based on the Chronic Care Model.
Describe a program development process that can be replicated in other states for PD and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Keyword(s): Aging, Chronic Diseases
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a a doctoral student in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior at The University of Georgia. I have worked on multiple federally-funded and privately funded grants focusing on issues pertaining to aging as well as chronic disease management. I currently serve as an Advisory Board Member for the Atlanta Regional Geriatric Education Center (AGREC). My research interests focus on health promotion pertaining to aging, end-of-life decision making, and chronic disease management.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
