In advanced Parkinson’s disease, how should clinicians assess symptom management and quality of life when patients are no longer able to communicate themselves?

This is challenging and why palliative care professionals are not familiar with neurodegenerative conditions, questions their efficacy in helping our patients. Using validated tools can help such as the ESAS-rPD. This scale can be used to assess response to interventions. Family members may be able to score symptoms based on what they witness. For pain, using the Faces Pain Scale is helpful when performing passive movements (such as dressing or doing ADLs). Family members can often indicate the ...

I try to get as much information as I can from the patient before resorting to loved ones or even calling the facility where they reside. A lot of it has to do with knowing eventual complications and being proactive during visits.