Patients undergo a thorough evaluation and receive a comprehensive treatment plan. Support is available from our interdisciplinary team, which includes:
- nationally recognized physicians
- advance practice providers
- researchers
- licensed clinical social workers
- physical, occupational and speech therapists
- nurses and pharmacists
- chaplain
As official Centers of Excellence recognized by the the Parkinson’s Foundation, Huntington's Disease Society of America, and Tyler's Hope for a Dystonia Cure, we are national leaders in research, care and comprehensive services for movement disorders. Our clinicians and team members regularly receive specialized, up-to-date training in Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and other movement disorders. We offer the latest medications and treatments, as well as comprehensive support services to improve your quality of life.
We are located at 932 Morreene Rd, Durham, NC 27705.
Duke's Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy provides quality care directed at evaluation and improvement of function. The staff is experienced in working with patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
Therapists are available on site to meet the needs of patients by offering evaluation and treatment as well as providing education to the patient and their families. Duke's Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology provides an exceptional standard of care for patients suffering from speech, swallowing, and hearing disorders. The Speech Pathology and Audiology Clinic provides services to those patients with speech and swallowing difficulties.
Our licensed clinical social worker collaborates with the medical team to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Direct patient support through counseling services, and resources to patients and their families to include information regarding home health care, support groups, medical disability, and numerous other assistance programs.
Many patients with movement disorders may continue with symptoms despite medications (or due to medications), including residual tremor, extra movements such as dyskinesias or dystonia, or a decreased effectiveness of medications over time. In this situation the next step to consider would be surgery to help treat the abnormal movements for improved quality of life.
Surgical treatments for movement disorders include well-established procedures, particularly deep brain stimulation (DBS), and occasionally, experimental procedures (ie, gene therapy, growth factor treatment, stem cells, etc). These surgical treatments are highly individualized, both during the surgical procedure, as well as afterwards, with changes in stimulation settings customized for each patient to achieve the optimal treatment of the movement disorder.
Thus, we offer both conventional surgical procedures as well as the option of experimental treatments when these arise. During surgery we also offer the possibility of participating in research if the patient is interested, aimed at both understanding brain function as well as improving the effectiveness of treatments.