The Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) is a group of specially-trained professionals which your doctor will bring together to treat each of your symptoms, including the emotional and psychological, as well as the physical. Your doctor will draw upon the MDT’s varied skill-set to manage your condition as effectively as possible. The team’s wide ranging expertise will enable them to advise on a number of aspects of Parkinson’s which specifically effect you, from medication and mobility to drooling and diet.
The professionals who are part of your team may vary depending on the country in which you live: there is no standard template for who is included in the MDT. Professional titles may vary between countries, too. For example a Parkinson’s specialist can also be known as a neurologist, a movement disorder specialist, or a Doctor with a Special Interest in Parkinson's. Moreover, the MDT members will vary depending on your individual needs and will change as the illness progresses. As such, the composition of the MDT is very dynamic.
The team will closely involve you and your carer or family. They are there to support you in whatever way you require, and will endeavour to build a good relationship between you so that’s it feels comfortable to discuss any problems that you may have.
Terms used to describe people who look after or provide support, voluntarily and without payment, to relatives, partners or friends who are ill, aged or disabled.
See section on Carers.
Collective name for conditions that affect a person’s abilities to produce and control movement. They include Parkinson’s disease, restless leg syndrome and dystonia.
Physicians specializing in the field of neurology (a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system ) are called neurologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with neurological disorders. Most neurologists are trained to treat and diagnose adults with neurological disorders.
Pediatric neurologists, nearly always a subspecialty of pediatrics, treat neurological disease in children.
Neurologists may also be involved in clinical research, clinical trials, as well as basic research and translational research.
