Category: Education in Movement Disorders
Objective: Understand the initial knowledge of Nursing home professionals.
Target the learning weaknesses.
Generate spontaneous demand for training spontaneous demand for training and topics to help professionals
Background: For several years now, Nursing Homes have been the last place to live for Parkinson’s patients.
The challenge is to understand the expertise of this environment in order to improve the quality of care and avoid the difficulties associated with care.
Method: A quantitative study was carried out on the basis of a nationwide questionnaire. 430 were completed by paramedics (92% by Nurse or Lower). They were returned and analyzed in order to determine the answers to the above-mentioned objectives. A number of interviews were conducted with various professionals in order to specify the working and training conditions of Nursing home professionals.
Results: The results show that preconceived ideas are resisting: akinesia and tremor (both 42%) are considered central to the diagnosis. While Parkinson’s disease is widely recognized as a neurodegenerative disease (92%), some symptoms (pain 51%, depression 41% and anxiety 47% ) are not considered to be directly related to parkinsonian syndromes. In addition, dopaminergic agonists are little known to professionals (Sifrol 25% and Requip 21%). Qualitative interviews highlight the central role of the nurse assistant in the distribution of medication, and a lack of knowledge of the rules of good compliance, linked to a lack of training.
The requests are fairly wide-ranging, but some trends emerge. 88% would like to receive training in various aspects: support is in first place (82%), followed by knowledge of the disease (73%). Then there is a consistent demand for training on treatments, patient and end-of-life issues.
Conclusion: Nursing home professionals are familiar with certain aspects of Parkinsonian syndromes. In view of the results obtained, work needs to be undertaken to adapt to specific
specific requests, in order to promote expertise towards Parkinsonian patients.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
J. Thezenas, M. Heuzé-de Raeve. Survey of knowledge and training needs of professionals in nursing homes for Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2025; 40 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/survey-of-knowledge-and-training-needs-of-professionals-in-nursing-homes-for-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed October 5, 2025.« Back to 2025 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/survey-of-knowledge-and-training-needs-of-professionals-in-nursing-homes-for-parkinsons-disease/