End-stage Parkinson’s patients who choose to end treatment may benefit from hospice care.
Eligibility Requirements
Patients with neurological diseases may be eligible for hospice when they experience:
- Increasingly compromised breathing, marked by the difficulty clearing respiratory secretions
- Persistent cough, or recurring aspiration pneumonia
- Increased shortness of breath, even at rest or on oxygen
- Difficulty swallowing liquids or soft food without choking or coughing
- Increasingly unintelligible speech
- Continued weight loss
- Difficulty managing most activities of daily living
- The continuous decline in clinical or functional status over time, leading to a poor prognosis
- Modified diet due to dysphagia
How Do You Know When It’s Time?
Motor Symptoms:
- Advanced Bradykinesia
- Speech changes
- Increased risk of falling
- Difficulty swallowing
- Sleep Disorder
Non-Motor Symptoms:
- Hallucinations or delusions
- Dementia
- Severe constipation
- Urinary problems
Art’s Hospice Story
Art—who is now 84 years old—was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at 71. He was recently widowed and placed into a long-term care facility.
Art has had multiple falls over the last few years, and now spends most of his time in a Geri chair or bed. He has lost about 20 pounds over the previous year, and his weight is down to 150 pounds. He has developed two pressure ulcers on his buttocks. The staff has tried to feed him, but he has difficulty swallowing.
Art has some hallucinations, which cause him to become restless and aggressive at times.
It’s time to add hospice to his plan of care.
Hospice Provides Care & Support for Those with End-Stage Parkinson’s Disease
- Help relieve pain, nausea and side effects from medication
- Specialized treatment of the Patient’s primary condition and comorbidities
- Education and training for family members on what to expect and how to best assist the ailing family member
- Efforts to ensure dietary needs are met
- Mental health counseling to address depression, anxiety and other issues
- Medical social work assistance
- Optional spiritual and/or religious counseling
- Bereavement counseling to family members for 18 months after the death of their loved one
