Establishing and Evaluating a PD Support Network

Gillian Carey (1) and Beverly Castleton (1) Dick Curry (2)

(1) North Surrey Primary Care Trust(2) The Tanaka Business School, Imperial

College London

Address for correspondence

Gillian.carey@nsurreypct.nhs.uk

Objectives

Patient access to information and

assistance

Patient links to their healthcare

professionals

To link healthcare professionals to one

another

Features of the Website

Bulletin Board (Local events, service update, PD in the news)

Discussion forum (topic specific discussion between patients)

Health enquiries (general health questions from patients)

My PD Nurse (secure area for personal communication between patient and professional)

Professionals Site (secure communication between PD specialists)

Home Page

Bulletin Board

Discussion Forum

Health Enquiries

Nurse’s Office

My PD Nurse

Pilot Phase

Launched September 2004 One year duration 50 patients and carers registered as users 20 health professionals registered as users

User comments“A faster service for personal questions and

general enquiries”“Useful to compare problems and ideas with

others”

Evaluation

Impact on:

– Patients and carers

– Health professionals

– PD Society policy implementation

– NHS Policy implementation

Website Address

Patient site

http://www.supportingparkinsons.com

Health professional’s site

http://experts.pds.medixine.com

Partners

North Surrey PCT

Medixine

The Parkinson’s Disease Society

Pfizer (Educational Grant)

Tanaka Business School, Imperial College

London