The Impact of Living With Parkinson’s Disease

Running head: THE IMPACT OF LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE
THE IMPACT OF LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

THE IMPACT OF LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE1
Introduction
Nurses hold an integral role in establishing interventions of care for chronic illnesses
like Parkinson’s disease (PD). Aim and purpose of this essay is to represent a patient living
with Parkinson’s disease and elaborate on its effect on the patient’s life and family to identify
the concern areas and establish two care priorities. This paper will discuss the background of
the interviewed person concerning his present medical conditions and past history,
implications of the disease on life and family, specific areas of need, and associated care
goals to be achieved.
Background
The initial step in the clinical reasoning framework is to study the present conditions,
appearance, and medical history of the patient (Blakey, Guinea & Saghafi, 2017). The
interviewee here is Jack, who is a 61 years old semi-retired person with an active lifestyle. He
currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife. Although Jack has two adult
children, both of them live interstate. Jack visited a general practitioner (GP) with complaints
of tremors in his right hand, which worsened when resting on the bed. He also presented with
symptoms of extreme fatigue, memory loss, confused speech, and gait instability. A diagnosis
of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease was done by the GP after a thorough assessment of his
persistent signs and symptoms. His previous medical history includes hyperlipidemia,
diabetes mellitus, and mild depression, for which he was taking regular medications. His
previous medicines included Lipitor and Citalopram, and he was prescribed Levodopa by the
GP for his current diagnosis. After the diagnosis, his wife became his primary carer as his
symptoms were rapidly progressing, leaving him unable to take care of his daily living
activities.

THE IMPACT OF LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE2
Discussion
PD is a chronic disease that entails neurodegeneration, causing impairments in motor
and nonmotor functioning. The principal pathology believed to induce the primary motor
dysfunction is a deficiency in striatal dopamine caused by a complex pathway involving
dopaminergic neurons in the brain (Rana et al., 2015; Moustafa et al., 2016). Also, the lipid-
lowering medicines that he was on are often linked with enhancing the development of
Parkinson’s diseases (Liu et al., 2017). This could be an underlying mechanism in the
advancement of the disease in Jack. According to the case scenario, Jack exhibits symptoms
that contribute to a deficit in self-care because of which his daily activities and cognitive
functioning could be impaired. A study explored the multiple aspects that lead to an altered
life status in patients of PD, the primary ones being difficulty in performing daily tasks, loss
of individuality and self-esteem, compromised social life, and a persistent feeling of isolation
(Westergren et al., 2018). These affect the quality of life and acts as a barrier to optimum
health. Jack, therefore, is at increased risk of developing an array of neurological impairments
that may render him incapable of leading a healthy lifestyle, with increased susceptibility to
develop dementia and gait-related falls due to reduced mobility (Ding et al., 2015).
As per the “RLT model of nursing”, it is crucial to assess the priorities for caregiving
needed for a patient through ‘Activities of Living’ that can shed light on the physical nursing
care required (de Moura et al., 2015). For the present case, the challenges in daily activities
for Jack can be identified and processed to link them with his incapabilities. The factors that
stimulate these activities of daily living are based on biological, psychological, social,
environmental, and financial aspects of the affected individual (Kadastik-Eerme et al., 2015).
Jack’s physiological disabilities include impaired self-care capabilities and reduced cognitive
functioning caused by repeated hand tremors, balance, and posture deficits. His mental health
is affected to a great extent as he suffers from mild depression along with apathy, which is a