A Rural Health Model for Parkinson's Care: The Clients' Perspective

Access to specialist Parkinson's disease (PD) services is limited in rural Australia. This study aimed to describe patient experiences of a novel health care model for PD introduced into a rural Australian health center. The program provided specialist PD services, which included a Parkinson's specialist nurse based at the center and a metropolitan-based Parkinson's specialist neurologist who used telehealth to consult remotely with the program's patients. Patient experiences of the program were captured using the Patient-Centered Questionnaire for PD. Scores included the overall patient-centered score (OPS, range 0-3), subscale experience scores (SES, range 0-3), and quality improvement scores (QIS, range 0-9). The mean (SD) OPS for 52 participants was 1.9 (0.5), a moderate patient-centeredness experience. Most subscale experiences were rated highly, including empathy and Parkinson's expertise (mean 2.4, SD 0.6) and accessibility of health care (mean 2.3, SD 0.8). Experience of provision of tailored information was poorly rated (mean 1.3, SD 0.6). Overall, patient needs were met by this program. Trialing the program at other rural health centers is now required.