In-Home Care Services for Parkinson’s Disease

When a loved one has Parkinson’s disease, it can change both their world and the family’s. Individuals with Parkinson’s disease suffer from nerve damage in the brain, which leads to debilitating tremors, muscle stiffness, slow movement, and/or impaired balance. While researchers haven’t discovered a cure yet, groups like the National Parkinson’s Foundation and the Parkinson’s Institute have a mission to improve Parkinson’s care and find a cure.

While researchers work to better understand Parkinson’s to develop effective treatments for your loved one, our caregivers work to help relieve the pain and stress of managing the limitations Parkinson’s disease puts on the human body. As the disease progresses, your loved one can do less and less for themselves, and will need to depend on others for help with even the simplest of daily activities. Our gentle and supportive caregivers are there to provide the necessary nurturing needed unconditionally and doing so being non-judgemental.

Signs and Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that affects the way the brain and nervous system control body movements. This disease process unfortunately makes muscle movement and control diminish over time. The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease which affects your loved one can begin slowly. A tremor that is barely noticeable may be the first sign. Tremors are a common first symptom, but a slowing of movement and stiffness are other signs of this disorder. In the early stages, your loved one’s face may show very little expression, their arms may not move back and forth when walking, or their speech may become slurred or soft.

It can be hard to tell if you or a loved one has Parkinson’s disease. If you’re unsure, take a look at some of the early warning signs below, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. No single one of these should cause you to worry, but if you notice a few, we encourage you to consider making an appointment with your doctor.

Tremor
Small handwriting
Loss of smell
Trouble sleeping
Trouble moving or walking

Constipation
A soft or low voice
Masked face (serious/depressed look when not upset)
Dizziness of fainting
Stooping or hunching over

There is no single test or scan for Parkinson’s, but there are prominent symptoms that help doctors make a diagnosis. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are different from person to person. Some signs may go unnoticed because they’re mild at first or only affect one side of the body. With Parkinson’s, symptoms can begin on one side of the body and then remain worse on that side or they can progress over time to eventually affect both sides. Some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s are:

Tremors: With tremors, it begins in one limb such as their hand or fingers. Your family member may start to rub their thumb and forefinger in a back-and-forth motion that is known as a pill-rolling tremor. Their hand may tremor when they’re resting as well.
Bradykinesia or slowed movement: Simple task for them may become difficult and over-whelming because Parkinson’s slows down movement. Their steps may become shorter when walking or their feet may start to drag.
Rigid muscles: In any part of the of your loved one’s body, muscle stiffness may occur. These muscles can become stiff, painful and limit their range of motion.
Posture and balance impaired: The posture of your family member with Parkinson’s may become stooped, or there could be a problem with them be able to keep balance.
Loss of automatic movements: You may notice may a decreased ability for them to be able to perform unconscious movements. These could include being able to smile, blinking their eyes or swinging their arms when walking.
Changes in speech: Their speech may become more of a monotone without inflection. Plus, their speech pattern may speed up, begin to slur, or they could hesitate and speak softly instead of at a normal conversational tone.
Changes in writing: Writing may become difficult for them and their writing will appear to be smaller.

Getting Started with Home Care for Parkinson’s disease

As one of the top home health agencies in Hollywood, FL, and the surrounding communities, we at Jewish Family Home Care understand how difficult it is to discover you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and how helpless you can feel without a cure in sight. We’re here to help ease the pain and assist where family members cannot. As much as we can wish time stands still when you hear devastating life changing news, it doesn’t. As a family member, you want to assist in every way possible, but there may come a time when it may become impossible to maintain the responsibilities of your own life while balancing caring for your loved one. In general, it is always difficult for the family to manage the new responsibilities as well as cope with seeing a loved one afflicted with the increasing mental and physical developments of Parkinson’s disease.

As you and your family spend more time with your loved one, it’s common to cause stress as well as emotional and physical exhaustion due to increased onset of responsibilities, lack of sleep, or strained relationships with family members or work.

At this time, family members may be thinking about an assisted facility or respite care as it may be too much to handle, and your loved one simply can’t manage alone. However, there is another option with in-home caregiving from a professional caregiver who specializes in Parkinson’s disease home care.

About Our Parkinson’s disease Caregiving Service

Jewish Family Home Care Is dedicated to helping seniors live safely and in the comfort of their own home for as long as it’s possible. With the services our caregivers can provide, we can help to postpone or even eliminate having to move your family member to a nursing care or residential facility. Your loved one is suffering from enough physical and mental changes. By utilizing our home care services, elderly individuals who are unable to carry out daily living activities alone can remain in their safe place, in a place they call home.

Unlike other agencies, Jewish Family Home Care’s, in-home care in Hollywood, FL, and nearby communities, is personalized to what your loved one’s needs are in their current stage of Parkinson’s. Within 48 hours of contacting us, our supervisory RN will interview your senior loved one at home, assessing their physical and emotional needs. Together we’ll determine the best situation and schedule to meet your loved one’s needs and budget. Careful consideration is always taken to be sure that the caregiver chosen will complement the special needs and personality of the patient. We aim to find the perfect match for your loved one so they feel safe and comfortable while undergoing the changes and symptoms of the disease.

There will be rough days when shaking won’t stop and shuffling increases. Our Parkinson’s in-home care professionals know just when to encourage or nudge them into exercises, prepare meals, or simply help talk through feelings of frustrations due to the new limitations Parkinson’s is having on their body.
At Jewish Family Home Care, we provide assistance with a variety of needs ranging from assisted daily living tasks to comforting companionship. Some Parkinson’s care services we offer are:

Medication reminders
Transportation to doctors’ appointments
Meal preparation
Bathing and grooming care for those who lose capability
Housekeeping chores
Exercises for mobility issues
Compassionate and loving companionship plus encouraging autonomy, good health habits, independence, and boosting morale.

How common is Parkinson’s Disease?

The second most common degenerative neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s disease is Parkinson’s disease. Some facts about Parkinson’s disease:

Parkinson’s disease affects about 1% of the population who is over 60 years of age.
There are as many as one million Americans are living with Parkinson’s disease stage 3. There are about 60,000 Americans who are diagnosed with stage 1 and 2 of Parkinson’s disease every year.

At Jewish Family Home Care, we will design a custom care plan specific to your loved one’s stage of Parkinson’s disease. Our compassionate and well-trained professional caregivers can help with tasks which have become too difficult over time. From our family to yours, we’ll provide care services that help buffer aging with Parkinson’s symptoms so you can rest easy knowing they are safe and well taken care of when you are not present.

Parkinson's Care

Getting Started with Home Care for Parkinson’s disease

About Our Parkinson’s disease Caregiving Service