Parkinson’s Foundation Partners with Medscape Education to Deliver Patient Education
NEW YORK & MIAMI (July 30, 2018) — The Parkinson’s Foundation has collaborated with Medscape Education to launch an online learning program entitled “Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis: A Learning Destination for Care Partners and Patients,” available on Medscape’s patient portal, WebMD Education. The program is intended to provide Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers with information about Parkinson’s disease progression, self-care and shared decision-making in the management of Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease psychosis.
Parkinson’s disease psychosis is known to be a significant cause of distress and impaired quality of life for patients and their care partners. The program is founded on the belief that through education, patients and their caregivers can be empowered to develop informed long-range care plans in concert with their health care professionals and preserve their quality of life.
WebMD Education is a resource that provides easy-to-understand, commercial-free coursework, tools, and resources that help patients and their care partners better understand their condition and treatment options so they can have an informed discussion with their health care professional about their treatment goals, preferences, and plan of care.
“The Parkinson’s Foundation has always championed patient education and empowerment,” said John L. Lehr, president and chief executive officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “Our collaboration offers us access to the largest audience of health information-seeking consumers. Through WebMD Education, we can reach many more people living with Parkinson’s and their care partners first so that they may have informed conversations with their doctor.”
The evidence-based online curriculum consists of three text-based activities accompanied by brief videos:
- Activity 1: Why Hallucinations and Delusions May Happen in Parkinson’s Disease
- Activity 2: Don’t Delay: Discuss Symptoms of Parkinson’s Psychosis with your Doctor
- Activity 3: Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis: Treatment Options
Working with Medscape Education, the Foundation developed meaningful and accessible learning modules that include a pre-and post-activity question developed to measure the impact of the education on learner awareness and knowledge. The question is linked at the individual learner level, allowing each learner to serve as his or her own control.
“Many people living with Parkinson’s disease are unaware of the non-motor symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations, also known as Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP),” said Michael S. Okun, MD, national medical director of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “Family members and patients need to be informed about all of the available treatment options for PDP and work with their health care professional to decide which option is right for them.”
All of the modules are free and can be accessed via the following link: https://education.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease-psychosis-pf.
Grant funding for this project was provided by Acadia Pharmaceuticals.
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About the Parkinson’s Foundation
The Parkinson’s Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson’s community. Since 1957, the Parkinson’s Foundation has invested more than $400 million in Parkinson’s research and clinical care. Connect with us on Parkinson.org, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636).
About Parkinson’s Disease
Affecting an estimated one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the U.S. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson’s and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone.