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.