The experience of care partners of patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis.
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP) has a major impact on quality of life and care partner burden; however, little is known about the lived experiences of care partners in managing PDP. OBJECTIVE: To understand how care partners of individuals with PDP experience their role and articulate their needs related to psychosis. METHODS: This was a qualitative study of semi-structured telephone interviews. Recruitment was conducted online via the clinical study matching tool, Fox Trial Finder; study activities took place remotely via telephone interviews. Transcripts of the phone interviews were analyzed by grounded theory methods, and a codebook of key themes that emerged from the analysis was developed. RESULTS: Nine care partners (all female) were interviewed. Discussion topics in the codebook included (1) care partner burden and guilt; (2) communication with medical professionals; (3) coping strategies; (4) emotional reactions of the care partner to psychosis; (5) sources of knowledge about PD psychosis; (6) attitudes towards medications for PDP; (7) strategies to care for loved ones with psychosis; (8) psychosis triggers. CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative analysis uncovers important aspects of the care partner experience, including challenges in navigating the medical system and communicating with professionals. Providers treating patients with PDP should be aware of these constraints and provide added support for strained care partners.
Duke Scholars
Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Psychotic Disorders
- Patient Advocacy
- Parkinson Disease
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Interviews as Topic
- Humans
- General Science & Technology
- Female
- Caregivers
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Psychotic Disorders
- Patient Advocacy
- Parkinson Disease
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Interviews as Topic
- Humans
- General Science & Technology
- Female
- Caregivers