This session provides an opportunity to share expertise and challenges in managing end of life care in Parkinson’s Disease.
Dr Frank Nicklason will share some practical pearls of wisdom in the management of Parkinson’s Disease. The clinical session will have particular focus on patients with more advanced disease. Maintaining optimum levels of dopamine replacement requires vigilance, knowledge and skills shared across the many members of multidisciplinary teams involved in providing care for this group of patients.
Dr Odette Spruijt Medical Director of Specialist Palliative Care Service North will introduce Clinical Nurse Consultant Julie Kingston and GP Registrar Dr Jenny Davidson from the Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care (CPCiAC) team. CPCiAC is a specialist palliative care team for Aged Care facilities. The team provides clinical reviews, needs rounds and education to GPs and RACF staff on the palliative management of their patients.
GP clinical Editor Dr Emily Ingram will introduce participants to the recently reviewed HealthPathways Palliative care suite, this large suite of HealthPathways support primary care in the clinical management of Palliative care and related conditions and support assessment, management and referral pathways within the Tasmanian context.
As part of this session participants can expect to achieve the following learning outcomes:
- Understand and describe the of ON/OFF states in Parkinson’s Disease
- Develop strategies to maintain consistent brain dopamine levels and better symptom control.
- Recognise and manage major neuro-psychiatric disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease.
Dr Frank Nicklason is graduate of the University of Tasmania. He commenced training in Geriatric Medicine in Cardiff, Wales in 1989 and spent 2 years there before returning to Australia in 1991; taking a Senior Registrar role at the Royal Perth Hospital. Frank remained 4 years in Perth before returning to Hobart in 1995 to take a role as a Staff Specialist Physician in General and Geriatric Medicine.
Dr Spruijt is the Medical Director, Specialist Palliative Care Service North, Tasmanian Health Service. She has worked in all sectors of palliative care, community, hospice, and consultative services. She has held several leadership roles in palliative care in Australia and New Zealand, including past president of Australia New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine, previous board member of Palliative Care Victoria and ex-officio member of the board of the Chapter of Palliative Medicine. She completed her PhD in 2020, Lancaster University, UK, a narrative exploration of the experiences of palliative care doctors of the relief of patients’ suffering.