Patient/caregiver was educated on lifestyle modifications for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease as follows:
- Poor grips in individuals with Parkinson’s can often make the task of holding cup, pen, and pencil challenging. Use of adaptive equipment, such as, silicone stretchy cuffs can help promote the grip and reduce the stress of work for the individual.
- Individuals with Parkinson’s disease can present with slowed reaction time and rigidity of movement. Also, advanced age of senior citizens can add further to slowing the reaction time and compromise safety. Using microwave for cooking and avoiding use of electric/gas burners can help prevent burn injuries and accidents. Using dish washer for cleaning can help avoid the stress on the shaking hands.
- Individuals with rigidity and tremors involving the hands and fingers can have difficulty forming a grip to hold bar or bottles of soap, shampoo & conditioner while taking shower. Using a wall-mounted soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers with push-buttons can be easier, as it is less stressful on the tremoring hands of Parkinson’s individuals. Also, this avoids the stress of bending down to pick the bar or bottle of soap, in the event of dropping them down.
- Maintain a calm and relaxing environment in the bedroom. Observe strict compliance with the sleep time. Turn off all radio, television, or laptop an hour before the scheduled sleep time, so that, it offers enough time to prepare for the routine. Avoid having any stimulants such as, coffee, tea, or smoke close to the bedtime.
