Achievements of the Parkinson's and Other Movement Disorders HIT

Dr Alan Whone, Director of the Parkinson’s and Other Movement Disorders Health Integration Team (MOVE HIT), gives an update on the HIT’s progress in 2017-18.

The Movement Disorders HIT works to improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders in the Bristol area. Our work also aims to have international impact.

We’ve continued our work to develop an integrated care pathway for people with Parkinson’s in the region. With our patient and public involvement (PPI) group, we have developed a shared guide to mental health and wellbeing services in the area which professionals are about to use. This will help co-ordinate our approach to common issues of anxiety and depression that patients can face.

The advanced treatment service is progressing well. We’ll be publishing the pathways for these services shortly, so that patients can see what’s involved. One of our team’s Deep Brain Stimulation Nurses featured in Channel 4’s documentary, ‘Can You Rebuild My Brain?’. It was a great opportunity to showcase the treatments available for our patients.

In May 2017, we brought together academics and clinicians with an interest in movement disorders to share findings and build new collaborations. From the sub-cellular level to population health, a huge breadth of experience and expertise was shared.

We also got together with industry partners in May, to discuss how we can work together on educational projects. The day was hosted by Sue Thomas, Wilmington Healthcare, and led to interesting discussions and debate.

Our programme of education continues to expand as we develop materials for local care homes. We are also looking at how we can support ward staff better in their management of Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.

Our PPI group continue to lead the agenda. They have worked with postgraduate physiotherapy students from the University of the West of England to assess the benefits of the Parkinson’s UK supported non-contact boxing, and occupational therapy students to address life balance classes in Thornbury. We were pleased this year to get commitment to develop the patient-designed garden at the Brain Centre and going to launch a fundraising campaign to make this happen.