Researchers Urge Better Care For Patients With Cognitive impairment

People with Parkinson’s disease and cognitive impairment experience more severe symptoms and require more care but appear to use healthcare services less often, a European study has found, suggesting that new models of care are needed to better support these patients. “Healthcare should be more targeted to help this group of people, given their higher care needs,” researchers wrote in the study “The Care Needs of Patients With Cognitive Impairment in Late-Stage Parkinson’s Disease,” which appeared in the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. Parkinson’s causes not only motor symptoms, but also nonmotor symptoms like problems with thinking and memory, which can range from mild cognitive impairment to severe dementia.