LEARNING AIM D: DEVELOP A TREATMENT PLAN FOR SERVICE USERS WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL
DISORDERS TO MEET THEIR NEEDS
P5: Assess care needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
P6: Plan treatment to meet the needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
In this assignment I will be assessing care needs of a selected service user with Parkinson’s disease. I will
be planning treatment to meet the needs of the individual with Parkinson’s disease.
PARKINSON’S CASE STUDY:
Barry Stokes is 59 years old and used to run his own web design business form home. Five days ago he
noticed he had an increasing tremor in his hands when he was sat watching television in the evenings.
He has always been a bit shaky but has put it down to stress in his job. He has also been feeling quite
depressed for some time but was afraid to talk to anyone about it for fear of burdening others with his
problems. He linked his low mood to the breakdown in his marriage three years ago. Barry has a son,
Simon, who has taken over the business from his father and lives locally. He has noticed that his father
has been struggling in other ways: he has slowed down, lost some weight and often appears dizzy and
unsteady. However, he finds his dad difficult to talk to about personal issues and he is very busy with his
job and young family. The tremor however has worried Barry enough to make an appointment to see his
GP.
P5: Assess care needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
Care strategies are ways to deliver services or reach goals. For organisations such as social services or
the NHS, strategies give guidance and an overall care route. A care pathway is the way in which services
are assembled to meet the service user’s needs. Primary care is usually an individual’s first point of
contact with health services in the community. This might be through a GP, a clinic or after-hours centre,
or a community nurse. This visit may result in referral to secondary or tertiary health care. Secondary
care is the care that service users receive in acute or general hospitals that usually involves tests,
diagnosis and treatment. Secondary care usually follows referral from a primary healthcare practitioner.
Tertiary care is care that a service user receives after transfer to units with a special focus, such as a
palliative centre (for best care in terminal illness). Health care professionals work with service users to
discover their needs, the results of outcomes of the service user wants to get, and the ways in which the
service user wants to arrive at the results. A care professional is named as a needs assessor and their
role is to contact other people or agencies to get information regarding working with the service user or
an advocate. The service user must give permission for these enquires and contacts and be in control of
the needs assessment. Most assessments now feature person-centred planning, which means that the
service user is at the centre of positive planning that focuses on what the service user is able to do, and
then examines areas where the service user may need extra support to fill gaps. Customised charts are
completed so that all agencies, including the service user, know what care has been decided on and
agreed. Periodically, the care plan needs to be reviewed or reconsidered. A service user’s circumstances
, may have been altered. Service user’s abilities, for example, may be improved, or reduced, or the
service from some agencies may no longer be required (or not be satisfactory). The results or outcomes
may have been achieved, or not. Providing services is costly, both in terms of money and time, and there
is no point in providing services that are either not required or not effective. (Pearsonactivelearn.com.
2020)
Individuals with physiological disorders require treatment, support or usually both. Although Barry
hasn’t been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he is displaying symptoms of the disease. Parkinson's
disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become gradually damaged over many years.
Symptoms start slowly, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors
are common, but the disorder also usually causes stiffness or slowing of movement. (Mayo Clinic, 2020)
The symptoms of Parkinson's disease usually only start to develop when around 80% of the nerve cells
in the substantia nigra have been lost. There are typical patterns of progression in Parkinson’s disease
that are defined in stages. In stage 1 which is the initial stage, the person has mild symptoms that
generally do not interfere with daily activities. Tremor and other movement symptoms happen on one
side of the body only. Changes in posture, walking and facial expressions occur. Barry most likely is in
stage 1 of the disease and if he is diagnosed with the disease then it would steadily progress. Barry may
take medication for his tremor and early symptoms of the disease. Most people can get relief from their
Parkinson’s symptoms with medicines. But some may need surgery if their medications stop working
well enough. The medicines they take early on have a strong impact on how their condition will unfold
over time. Barry would not need to think about surgery now because he is still in the early stages of the
disease. Common medication for Parkinson’s includes Levodopa and carbidopa (Sinemet). Levodopa
(also called L-dopa) is the most commonly prescribed medicine for Parkinson’s. It’s also the best at
controlling the symptoms of the condition, particularly slow movements and stiff, rigid body parts.
Levodopa works when your brain cells change it into dopamine which is a chemical the brain uses to
send signals that help you move your body. People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough dopamine in
their brains to control their movements. Sinemet is a mix of levodopa and another drug called
carbidopa. Carbidopa makes the levodopa work better, so you can take less of it. That prevents many
common side effects of levodopa, such as nausea, vomiting, and irregular heart rhythms. (webmd.com,
2020)
If the medication does not help Barry manage the symptoms of the disease as it progresses, he may
prefer to do surgery to help relieve symptoms, however, this is not an immediate need but rather a
decision he may make in the future. Surgery is an option for some people with Parkinson’s disease (PD)
to help treat the symptoms. There is no type of surgery that can cure PD; however, surgical techniques
may relieve symptoms from PD for Barry. Surgical procedures for PD are typically considered after other
treatments, like medication, have been exhausted. Surgery generally only works to improve the motor
symptoms of PD that have previously improved on levodopa therapy. Initially, surgical procedures for
individuals like Barry with PD aimed to destroy specific parts of the brain to relieve symptoms. These
procedures include pallidotomy, thalamotomy, and subthalamotomy. However, these procedures have
significant risks, including the possibility of death. Today, deep brain stimulation is the most common
surgery for PD. Deep brain stimulation has fewer risks and works by disrupting electrical signals in the
DISORDERS TO MEET THEIR NEEDS
P5: Assess care needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
P6: Plan treatment to meet the needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
In this assignment I will be assessing care needs of a selected service user with Parkinson’s disease. I will
be planning treatment to meet the needs of the individual with Parkinson’s disease.
PARKINSON’S CASE STUDY:
Barry Stokes is 59 years old and used to run his own web design business form home. Five days ago he
noticed he had an increasing tremor in his hands when he was sat watching television in the evenings.
He has always been a bit shaky but has put it down to stress in his job. He has also been feeling quite
depressed for some time but was afraid to talk to anyone about it for fear of burdening others with his
problems. He linked his low mood to the breakdown in his marriage three years ago. Barry has a son,
Simon, who has taken over the business from his father and lives locally. He has noticed that his father
has been struggling in other ways: he has slowed down, lost some weight and often appears dizzy and
unsteady. However, he finds his dad difficult to talk to about personal issues and he is very busy with his
job and young family. The tremor however has worried Barry enough to make an appointment to see his
GP.
P5: Assess care needs of a selected service user with a physiological disorder.
Care strategies are ways to deliver services or reach goals. For organisations such as social services or
the NHS, strategies give guidance and an overall care route. A care pathway is the way in which services
are assembled to meet the service user’s needs. Primary care is usually an individual’s first point of
contact with health services in the community. This might be through a GP, a clinic or after-hours centre,
or a community nurse. This visit may result in referral to secondary or tertiary health care. Secondary
care is the care that service users receive in acute or general hospitals that usually involves tests,
diagnosis and treatment. Secondary care usually follows referral from a primary healthcare practitioner.
Tertiary care is care that a service user receives after transfer to units with a special focus, such as a
palliative centre (for best care in terminal illness). Health care professionals work with service users to
discover their needs, the results of outcomes of the service user wants to get, and the ways in which the
service user wants to arrive at the results. A care professional is named as a needs assessor and their
role is to contact other people or agencies to get information regarding working with the service user or
an advocate. The service user must give permission for these enquires and contacts and be in control of
the needs assessment. Most assessments now feature person-centred planning, which means that the
service user is at the centre of positive planning that focuses on what the service user is able to do, and
then examines areas where the service user may need extra support to fill gaps. Customised charts are
completed so that all agencies, including the service user, know what care has been decided on and
agreed. Periodically, the care plan needs to be reviewed or reconsidered. A service user’s circumstances
, may have been altered. Service user’s abilities, for example, may be improved, or reduced, or the
service from some agencies may no longer be required (or not be satisfactory). The results or outcomes
may have been achieved, or not. Providing services is costly, both in terms of money and time, and there
is no point in providing services that are either not required or not effective. (Pearsonactivelearn.com.
2020)
Individuals with physiological disorders require treatment, support or usually both. Although Barry
hasn’t been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he is displaying symptoms of the disease. Parkinson's
disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become gradually damaged over many years.
Symptoms start slowly, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors
are common, but the disorder also usually causes stiffness or slowing of movement. (Mayo Clinic, 2020)
The symptoms of Parkinson's disease usually only start to develop when around 80% of the nerve cells
in the substantia nigra have been lost. There are typical patterns of progression in Parkinson’s disease
that are defined in stages. In stage 1 which is the initial stage, the person has mild symptoms that
generally do not interfere with daily activities. Tremor and other movement symptoms happen on one
side of the body only. Changes in posture, walking and facial expressions occur. Barry most likely is in
stage 1 of the disease and if he is diagnosed with the disease then it would steadily progress. Barry may
take medication for his tremor and early symptoms of the disease. Most people can get relief from their
Parkinson’s symptoms with medicines. But some may need surgery if their medications stop working
well enough. The medicines they take early on have a strong impact on how their condition will unfold
over time. Barry would not need to think about surgery now because he is still in the early stages of the
disease. Common medication for Parkinson’s includes Levodopa and carbidopa (Sinemet). Levodopa
(also called L-dopa) is the most commonly prescribed medicine for Parkinson’s. It’s also the best at
controlling the symptoms of the condition, particularly slow movements and stiff, rigid body parts.
Levodopa works when your brain cells change it into dopamine which is a chemical the brain uses to
send signals that help you move your body. People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough dopamine in
their brains to control their movements. Sinemet is a mix of levodopa and another drug called
carbidopa. Carbidopa makes the levodopa work better, so you can take less of it. That prevents many
common side effects of levodopa, such as nausea, vomiting, and irregular heart rhythms. (webmd.com,
2020)
If the medication does not help Barry manage the symptoms of the disease as it progresses, he may
prefer to do surgery to help relieve symptoms, however, this is not an immediate need but rather a
decision he may make in the future. Surgery is an option for some people with Parkinson’s disease (PD)
to help treat the symptoms. There is no type of surgery that can cure PD; however, surgical techniques
may relieve symptoms from PD for Barry. Surgical procedures for PD are typically considered after other
treatments, like medication, have been exhausted. Surgery generally only works to improve the motor
symptoms of PD that have previously improved on levodopa therapy. Initially, surgical procedures for
individuals like Barry with PD aimed to destroy specific parts of the brain to relieve symptoms. These
procedures include pallidotomy, thalamotomy, and subthalamotomy. However, these procedures have
significant risks, including the possibility of death. Today, deep brain stimulation is the most common
surgery for PD. Deep brain stimulation has fewer risks and works by disrupting electrical signals in the
