The five-year trial, led by Dr Emily Henderson, a Geriatrician at the Royal United Hospital in Bath and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol, will see the implementation of a new integrated care model designed specifically for people with Parkinson's disease across two health hubs in Bath, UK and Nijmegen, Netherlands. The Bristol Randomised Controlled Trials Collaboration (BRTC) with Prof Ben-Shlomo, will lead on the methodology and evaluation for the project with the innovation for patients delivered through the Royal United Hospitals, Bath.
Although many different care providers play a role in supporting people with Parkinson's, the collaboration between providers can be fragmented. Patients can struggle therefore to access the right services at the right time to tackle what can be very troublesome and debilitating symptoms of the condition.
This project aims to bridge that gap by developing and evaluating a new model of proactive and integrated care that addresses the patients' needs. This model, will capitalise on the experience and infrastructure already present in both the UK and the Netherlands. It is anticipated that, around 1,000 patients with Parkinson's will be recruited for the trial from the RUH catchment areas, with simultaneous innovations being implemented in the Netherlands.
Dr Emily Henderson, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with The Gatsby Foundation and Radboundumc to design and deliver this exciting innovation in Parkinson's care in the United Kingdom. Both the University of Bristol and The Royal United Hospitals Foundation Trust NHS Bath look forward to developing ideas to further improve the care we offer people living with Parkinson's.
"The robust design and evaluation of this new conceptual model will ensure that any positive findings can be widely implemented to ensure that people living with the condition will benefit. We are extremely grateful for Gatsby's generous support as we embark on this ambitious project and look forward to building on our successful collaboration. "
Professor Bas Bloem of Radboudumc and co-PI of the new study: "The only way to overcome the current impasse in healthcare is to have two critical components at your disposal: firstly, adequate funding to cover the gap between the ideal model of care and what is currently reimbursed by national healthcare systems or insurers ; and secondly, a sufficient amount of time to scientifically demonstrate that the new concept works, as reflected by an improved quality of life for patients as well as cost savings for society. We are extremely grateful to the Gatsby Foundation that we are now offered the unique opportunity to implement and evaluate this exciting new model of care for people with Parkinson's."
The project, entitled Proactive and Integrated Management and Empowerment in Parkinson's Disease (PRIME-PD), will be rigorously evaluated to determine the extent to which health can be improved and health care costs can be reduced.
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