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An update on our campaign to raise awareness of impulsive and compulsive behaviour

We are running a short online survey that asks people with Parkinson's and their carer whether anyone has spoken to them about the potential side effects of Parkinson's medication.

12 April 2012

Our campaign to raise awareness of impulsive and compulsive behaviour is gathering momentum and we have some key updates for you.

Talking to professionals

We recently conducted some research with neurologists and care of the elderly physicians to find out about their knowledge of impulsive and compulsive behaviour.

There were some positive findings but it showed that even though 82% of consultants have identified patients with Parkinson's who are experiencing impulsive and compulsive behaviour, only 48% of consultants pre-screen people before prescribing Parkinson's medication.

Pre-screening

Pre-screening patients can make a huge difference so as part of our campaign we are working with healthcare professionals to draw up a tool that helps them talk through what the possible side effects are, and which people are more likely to experience them

We will also use opportunities like conferences to tell consultants why screening people before they start medication that can potentially cause impulsive and compulsive behaviour is so important.

Tell us your views

We want to be able to make sure our campaign is having an impact.

To do this we are running a short online survey that asks people with Parkinson's and their carer whether anyone has spoken to them about the potential side effects of Parkinson's medication.

You can fill in the survey whether or not you've experienced impulsive and compulsive behaviour. It should take about 5 minutes to complete. The deadline for responses is 5pm on Monday 14 May 2012.

We will be running the survey again in a year's time. This will allow us to compare the 2 figures and help us tell whether our campaign has worked to raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals.

Raising awareness

We should see a rise in the number of people who are having these side effects discussed with them.

If you know someone who would like to fill in the survey, but don't have access to the internet, they can call 020 7963 9358 to take part.