The Morning Pointe Foundation, with guest speaker Mazhar Khowaja, MD, recently presented a virtual seminar on the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
The presentation on March 7 was the latest in the Morning Pointe Foundation’s Caregiver Café series. These are free webinars providing education for seniors, their families and other caregivers.
Khowaja is a board-certified psychiatrist. He focused his presentation on the psychosis symptoms that approximately 50 percent of Parkinson’s patients experience. These include hallucinations, illusions and delusions.
“Psychosis is not a disease in itself – it’s a symptom, like fever,” Khowaja shared. “The good news is that it is not a psychiatric illness.”
Khowaja emphasized the importance of recognizing these symptoms and not being afraid to talk about them with medical staff, including psychiatrists, physicians or pharmacists. Addressing these symptoms, through non-drug and/or pharmaceutical interventions, can help the patient and caregiver(s) have a better quality of life.
“Untreated psychosis can lead to complications, like hospitalization and caregiver burden,” Khowaja said.
At the end of the seminar, several registrants participated in a live question-and-answer session with Khowaja. He addressed what to do during a delusion, as well as when to consider a senior care community.
The session is available to watch on the Morning Pointe Foundation website: https://morningpointe.com/caregiver-cafe/. The site includes past webinars with expert speakers from around the Southeast, as well as future speakers and topics.
The Morning Pointe Caregiver Café wellness series connects experts on senior living and care with those experiencing the physical and mental effects of aging and their families for free.
The Morning Pointe Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Morning Pointe Senior Living founded by Tennessee-based senior healthcare entrepreneurs Greg A. Vital and J. Franklin Farrow. The 501(c)3 nonprofit public service organization was created in 2014 to provide caregiver support programs, sponsor educational awareness events, and fund clinical scholarships to advance the care of seniors throughout the Southeast.
Morning Pointe Senior Living, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, develops, owns, and manages 37 Morning Pointe personal care, assisted living, and The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence memory care communities in five southeastern states.
