Building Your Support Team
Building a support team is crucial. As you navigate Parkinson’ s with your loved one, you may find yourself asking questions: What type of doctors does my loved one need to see? How can I find services and support? What is my loved one eligible to access? It’ s important to have clarity around who can help with what, and what their role is.
Keep in mind that this list isn’ t comprehensive: There may be others in your life— religious or spiritual leaders, life coaches, personal trainers or nutritionists, for example— to whom you can turn.
Health Care Providers
Advance Practice Providers
These include nurse practitioners or physician assistants who partner with your doctor to provide your care.
Health Insurer
Your health insurance provider can detail what is and isn’ t covered by your plan, clarify what services and providers are in or out of network, and suggest ways to potentially lower health care costs.
Mental Health Professionals
Mental health professionals can help you work through anxiety or depression, feelings of guilt, and other emotional challenges. A couples counselor can help manage communication issues that may arise as well as navigate conversations around advance care planning or other care preferences.
Movement Disorder Specialist
A movement disorder specialist is a doctor with specific training in Parkinson’ s disease. If a movement disorder specialist isn’ t available in your area, find a general neurologist with experience in Parkinson’ s and consider visiting a specialist once a year( or more, virtually) if possible.
Occupational Therapist
An occupational therapist helps your loved one maintain their independence, providing tools and strategies to safely engage with activities of everyday life.
This resource is part of Facing Parkinson’ s Together: A Guide for Care Partners, created by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson ' s Research. To download the full guide, please visit michaeljfox. org / care-partners or scan the QR code.
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