Barriers to Mental Healthcare Utilization in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly. In most people, the illness is complicated by co-occurring psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety. These non-motor concerns negatively affect the course and management of the disease, often leading to poor outcomes for both patients and their families. Despite these deleterious consequences, psychiatric symptoms in PD are both underreported by patients as well as under-recognized and under-treated by health care providers.

The primary purpose of this study is to identify and describe barriers to mental healthcare utilization for people with Parkinson's disease. Secondary objectives include the assessment of attitudes and preferences regarding the need for mental health services in the PD community and the acceptability of telehealth interventions as a method for improving access and quality of care. In order to accomplish these aims, participants will be asked to fill out an anonymous survey which will take about 15-30 minutes to complete. To best accommodate PD patients with varying levels of disability, participants will have the option to complete the survey online, on paper, or over the phone. The information obtained from this study will be used to support future treatment development efforts (i.e., phone and internet based interventions, community based trainings with local providers) intended to improve access and quality of mental health care for people with PD. To the best of the investigators knowledge, this is the first study to systematically examine barriers to mental healthcare utilization in PD in a national sample.