ABSTRACT
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease for which comprehensive and coordinated care by multiple disciplines is essential, but all too often it is difcult to achieve in the current healthcare environment. As a complex chronic illness with no known cure and with which many live for 20 or more years, PD poses a signicant healthcare challenge. The incidence of PD can be as high as 19/100,000 (Twelves, 2003), with an estimated 1 million diagnosed individuals in the United States (Olanow and Tatton, 1999) and is expected to increase incrementally, due to the aging of the population, at a rate of 1% annually (WHO, 2004). A study by Dorsey et al. (2007) estimated 4.1 million people worldwide with PD and predicted that, by 2030, 80% more Americans over 50 years old will be diagnosed with PD. In 25 years, predictions are that this number will reach 8.7 million, almost doubling in developing Asian countries (Dorsey et al., 2007). The economic burden of PD is signicant as well, with estimated direct and indirect costs of $23 billion annually to the United States and serious implications for the growing economic burden of PD worldwide (Huse et al., 2005). Thus, PD demands serious attention by healthcare professionals and organizations.
