The mental health symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s are \u201coften overlooked\u201d a specialist nurse has warned as she welcomed new research being funded in the area.<\/p>\n
Lisa Wynne, a Parkinson\u2019s nurse specialist at Parkinson\u2019s Ireland, said she was excited to see two new projects funded for Cork and Dublin supported by the national charity and the Health Research Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cMental health symptoms can impact quality of life as much as physical symptoms in Parkinson\u2019s, yet they are often overlooked,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
University College Cork is being funded to analyse the daily lives of people with the progressive neurodegenerative disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The aim is to find out how their quality of life is affected by their changing mental health.<\/p>\n
There is already emerging evidence patients with the condition can experience increased levels of anxiety or depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This can be triggered by physical changes in the brain caused by the condition, as well as by fears around the future. Symptoms can also include hallucinations and memory challenges.<\/p>\n
The UCC team will survey 200 people with Parkinson\u2019s and their family carers. They will also speak to healthcare professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy capturing the lived experiences of people with Parkinson\u2019s, this research could provide valuable insights to inform more holistic, person-centred care and strengthen advocacy for improved services,\u201d Ms Wynne said.<\/p>\n
The lead researcher is Dr Emma O\u2019Shea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The funding package of \u20ac388,183 is a combined fund from Parkinson\u2019s Ireland and the Health Research Board.<\/p>\n
The second funded project will take place in University College Dublin. It will look at exercise and physical health for Parkinson’s patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Wynne said exercise was \u201can important part\u201d of helping patients to manage their symptoms.<\/p>\n
It can help them maintain their mobility and independence, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy exploring how technology can support home-based exercise, this project may help shape future rehabilitation services and strengthen advocacy for more accessible supports,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Parkinson\u2019s Ireland chief executive Shane O\u2019Brien also welcomed the fund, saying research was central to improving patients\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can help build evidence that informs better care, stronger services and improved quality of life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mental health symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s are \u201coften overlooked\u201d a specialist nurse has warned as she welcomed new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1111,103,397,396,61,60,43,1112],"class_list":["post-645786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-court-and-crime","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-politics-and-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}