Objective: To summarize best practices in outpatient multidisciplinary care models for Parkinson’s disease (PD), focusing on team composition, care coordination, interventions, and patient-centered outcomes.

Background: PD involves complex motor and non-motor symptoms affecting mobility, cognition, mood, and daily functioning. Traditional single-specialty management may not address these multidimensional needs. Outpatient multidisciplinary models integrate movement disorder specialists with rehabilitation therapists, nurses, mental health professionals, and social services to deliver coordinated, patient-centered care. Emerging evidence suggests these models may improve patient-reported outcomes, though implementation and effectiveness vary across healthcare systems.

Method: A narrative review of English-language publications from 2006–2026 was conducted using PubMed and professional society guidelines. Fifteen studies describing outpatient multidisciplinary PD care models were included, including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, and observational studies evaluating clinic-, community-, and network-based programs.

Results: Outpatient multidisciplinary PD care uses specialty clinics, community programs, regional care networks, home visits, and intensive day-clinic rehabilitation models with neurologists, therapists, nurses, and social workers, emphasizing core elements such as structured care coordination, goal-based rehabilitation, and patient and caregiver engagements. Evidence from these models suggests that they may improve health-related quality of life, functional status, and management of motor and non-motor symptoms compared with standard care, though some trials showed less significant benefits. Allied health interventions address mobility, activities of daily living, communication, and swallowing.

Conclusion: Outpatient multidisciplinary care provides a framework for addressing the complex symptoms of PD through coordinated medical, rehabilitative, and psychosocial interventions. Evidence suggests improvements in patient-reported quality of life and functional outcomes; however, heterogeneity in scope and models limit definitive conclusions. Future research should prioritize comparative studies, evaluate cost-effectiveness, clarify caregiver impacts, expand access for underserved populations, and establish comprehensive guidelines for multidisciplinary PD care.

References: Bloem, B. R., Rompen, L., de Vries, N. M., Klink, A., Munneke, M., & Jeurissen, P. (2017). ParkinsonNet: A low-cost health care innovation with a systems approach from the Netherlands. Health Affairs, 36(11), 1987–1996.

Eggers, C., Dano, R., Schill, J., Fink, G. R., Hellmich, M., & Timmermann, L. (2018). Patient-centered integrated healthcare improves quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Neurology, 265(4), 764–773.

Fleisher, J., Barbosa, W., Sweeney, M. M., Oyler, S. E., Lemen, A. C., Fazl, A., & Chodosh, J. (2018). Interdisciplinary home visits for individuals with advanced Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(6), 1226–1232.

Fründt, O., Mainka, T., Schönwald, B., Müller, B., Dicusar, P., Gerloff, C., & Buhmann, C. (2018). The Hamburg Parkinson day-clinic: A new treatment concept at the border of in- and outpatient care. Journal of Neural Transmission, 125(10), 1461–1472.

Gage, H., Grainger, L., Ting, S., et al. (2014). Specialist rehabilitation for people with Parkinson’s disease in the community: A randomized controlled trial. NIHR Journals Library.

Guo, L., Jiang, Y., Yatsuya, H., et al. (2009). Group education with personal rehabilitation for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 36(1), 51–59.

Krause, P., Berking, S., Astalosch, M., Grünheid, R., & Kühn, A. A. (2022). Motor and non-motor improvements following short-term multidisciplinary day-clinic care in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neural Transmission, 129(12), 1419–1426.

Lidstone, S. C., Bayley, M., & Lang, A. E. (2020). The evidence for multidisciplinary care in Parkinson’s disease. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 20(6), 539–549.

Muñoz, B. E., Quintana-Peña, V., Gonzalez, M. C., Valderrama, J. A., Castaño-Pino, Y. J., Rincón, D., Navarro, A., & Orozco, J. L. (2020). Saturdays-in-motion: Education and empowerment through an interdisciplinary team approach for Parkinson’s disease in Cali, Colombia. Parkinson’s Disease, 2020, 2497386.

Radder, D. L., Nonnekes, J., van Nimwegen, M., Eggers, C., Abbruzzese, G., Alves, G., & Bloem, B. R. (2020). Recommendations for the organization of multidisciplinary clinical care teams in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, 10(3), 1087–1098.

Rajan, R., Brennan, L., Bloem, B. R., Dahodwala, N., Gardner, J., Goldman, J. G., & Eggers, C. (2020). Integrated care in Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Movement Disorders, 35(9), 1509–1531.

Sturkenboom, I. H., Graff, M. J., Hendriks, J. C., Veenhuizen, Y., Munneke, M., Bloem, B. R., & Nijhuis-van der Sanden, M. W. (2014). Efficacy of occupational therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease: A randomized controlled trial. The Lancet Neurology, 13(6), 557–566.

Tickle-Degnen, L., Ellis, T., Saint-Hilaire, M. H., Thomas, C. A., & Wagenaar, R. C. (2010). Self-management rehabilitation and health-related quality of life in Parkinson’s disease: A randomized controlled trial. Movement Disorders, 25(2), 194–204.

van der Marck, M. A., Bloem, B. R., Borm, G. F., Overeem, S., Munneke, M., & Guttman, M. (2013). Effectiveness of multidisciplinary care for Parkinson’s disease: A randomized controlled trial. Movement Disorders, 28(5), 605–611.

van der Marck, M. A., Munneke, M., Mulleners, W., Hoogerwaard, E. M., Borm, G. F., Overeem, S., & Bloem, B. R. (2013). Integrated multidisciplinary care in Parkinson’s disease: A non-randomised controlled trial (IMPACT). The Lancet Neurology, 12(10), 947–956.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/outpatient-multidisciplinary-care-for-parkinsons-disease-a-narrative-review-of-care-models-and-outcomes/