[Impact of a community-based multisectoral intervention on the health of individuals with parkinson's disease and their family caregivers].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of a community-based multisectoral intervention aimed at optimizing the use of local resources on the quality of life (QoL), perceived social support, and health status of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their family caregivers.

METHODS

A randomized pre-post intervention study was conducted across six primary healthcare centers. The intervention comprised three monthly informational sessions over a three-month period, targeting both patients and caregivers, focused on raising awareness of available community resources and services. Outcome measures included QoL in individuals with PD (PDQ-39) and caregivers (PDQ-Carer), perceived social support (DUFSS), health status (EQ-5D-5L), and caregiver burden (BSFC-s).

RESULTS

A total of 67 individuals with PD (mean age: 80.56 years in the intervention group [IG], 79.48 in the control group [CG]) and 56 family caregivers participated. The CG demonstrated statistically significant improvements in QoL in individuals with PD across the domains of emotional well-being (P=.011), cognitive functioning (P=.024), and communication (P=.041). Among caregivers, the CG also reported better scores in the self-care domain (P=.045). Attrition rates were 28.4% among individuals with PD and 25% among caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

This feasibility study facilitated the identification of community resources relevant to the target population. Expanding the resource mapping to additional districts and disseminating the information through public repositories could enhance the clinical applicability of the intervention. These findings support the potential for scaling up to a larger randomized controlled trial with an extended intervention period.