Current Rehabilitation Therapies in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Rehabilitation is one of the important non-pharmacological interventions for Parkinson’s disease (PD). At the time of diagnosis, an appropriate exercise regimen can be prescribed based on the patient’s symptoms. Rehabilitative therapies should be continued throughout the disease course. This chapter summarized the standard specifications and research progression on PD from perspectives of assessment and treatment of rehabilitation. The physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, and neuromodulation therapy are the focus of the introduction. Accurate and comprehensive functional assessment is the premise of rehabilitation plan. Various approaches are used individually or in combined targeted at one or more dysfunction. Although there is still no consensus about the optimal approach about intensity, the frequency of treatment sessions, and complexity, rehabilitation is proved to be able to induce short-term, but clinically important benefits, particularly for gait and balance. The rehabilitative program for PD should be targeted to practicing and learning specific activities in the core areas and be tailored to the individual patients’ characteristics. In addition to improving patient’s performance, environmental modification and alleviation of caregivers are also included in rehabilitation intervention. Innovative techniques have been recently proposed: virtual reality and exergaming, motor imagery and action observation, robot-assisted physiotherapy, and nonconventional therapies.