HEALTHCARE DISCUSSION

In caring for a patient, it is essential for the caregiver to at least have some background knowledge about the patient. Knowing information relating to patients will allow the caregiver to tailor the services to match the exact needs of the patient. It is in this light that the importance of analysing data relating to patients becomes pertinent.

Parkinson’s is a disease that is progressive over time. Therefore, a Parkinson’s disease patient will be under different stages at different times of the disease’s life cycle. Each stage has its challenges that need to be attended to differently. It is therefore very crucial for caregivers to obtain data relating to these patients so that they analyse them and decide one which stage the patient is in. The analysis will provide the required information that enables the caregiver to provide specialised care (Lake, 2012). The frequent analysis of the patient’s data will also enable the caregiver to recognize when the patient has transitioned to the next stage so that services can be altered to suit the stages.

Caregivers are expected to report to the patient’s doctor in case the patient exhibits any unusual symptoms. As such, an analysis of the patient’s health record together with a comparison of the observable symptoms will reveal any anomalies in case they exist. The caregiver is then able to report these anomalies to the doctor for further directions. This enhances the quality of service that the caregiver provides (Oliker, 2011). Also, caregivers can also analyse the patient’s health data over the time that the caregivers have been with the patients to determine if their services are achieving their intended goals. Improvements in the patient’s health record are an indicator of proper service delivery (Oliker, 2011).