QUT neuroscientist and Parkinson's disease expert Professor Graham Kerr is today helping highlight the huge costs and health inequalities associated with living with Parkinson's disease to federal politicians at breakfast briefing in Canberra.
Parkinson's Australia is launching the Deloitte Access Economics Report it commissioned, Living with Parkinson's Disease, at a parliamentary breakfast briefing for MPs in Canberra.
The report shows Parkinson's disease costs the Australian community $10 billion a year, a figure that will grow unless Parkinson's becomes a focus of national action.
Professor Kerr, who is also president of Parkinson's Queensland, coordinated the report on behalf of Parkinson's Australia.
Professor Kerr said the report illustrated the urgent need to provide better care and support for people with Parkinson's disease, including Parkinson's Nurse Specialists.
"Australians with Parkinson's are lucky if they get to see a neurologist more than once a year; most have very limited access to physicians with expertise in the disease," said Professor Kerr, from QUT's Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation and Faculty of Health.
"Specialist nurses have that deep knowledge about treatments and medications that people with Parkinson's urgently need on an ongoing basis.
"These nurses are effective intermediaries between patient and neurologist, working with people with Parkinson's on their medications, symptoms and behaviours to improve their health outcomes.
"This healthcare model of specialist nurses has worked well overseas to reduce hospital admissions and the overall healthcare burden while supporting patients' ever-changing medical needs."
Professor Kerr can also comment on:
•Why it is vital to collect essential data on the prevalence of Parkinson's in Australia, its impact on individuals and the healthcare system, and the costs of this impact.
•Why the cost of treating and caring for people with Parkinson's is so high.
•Current Parkinson's research and the need for more research across all disciplines.
•Professor Kerr's own Parkinson's research.
More information on Professor Kerr's research projects:
•Dance study puts people with Parkinson's on the front foot
•Tests help predict falls by Parkinson's sufferers
•QUT offers free program for people with Parkinson's
Media contacts:
Kate Haggman, QUT Media, 07 3138 0358 or kate.haggman@qut.edu.au
After hours Rose Trapnell, QUT Media team leader, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
