Parkinson Society Canada is piloting a new program to ensure Canadians with Parkinson’s get their medication on time, in long-term care facilities and in hospital emergency departments. The ‘Get it on time’ program addresses an issue that is not well known among the health care provider population – the need for people with Parkinson’s to … Read more
(Written for Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists publication, OT Now) April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Over 100,000 Canadians have Parkinson’s disease, making it the second most common brain disease in Canada. Parkinson’s is a complex disease. It’s not just about tremor, stiffness, rigidity, postural instability and poor balance/coordination; it has cognitive aspects, as well. Occupational … Read more
Besides being aware of the physical demands of Parkinson’s, did you know that cognitive changes in Parkinson’s affect people’s ability to understand and produce verbal and non-verbal communications? These changes can result in misinterpretation of verbal instructions, facial gestures and body language; delays in processing information; delayed and/or lengthy responses. When communicating with clients with … Read more
(This article appears in the April 2011 edition of Hospital News) Sandy Sadler was alarmed, when her mother’s neurologist suggested that she might want to start looking into palliative care. “I always connected the term, palliative care, with end of life and I didn’t like that,” says Sadler. “I wondered, is the neurologist telling us … Read more
By Dr. Isabelle Boileau I chose neuroscience because I wanted to understand how minute changes in brain chemistry can lead to remarkable changes in behaviour and function and can lead to disease. Motivated by my desire to learn about the neurochemistry of human behaviour, the first conscious decision of my scientific career was to work … Read more
The Global Parkinson’s Pledge was launched at the World Parkinson Congress in Glasgow, Scotland on September 28, 2010, to help build a global Parkinson’s movement and to make Parkinson’s a health, research, social and economic priority around the world. The goal is to collect 1 million signatures by the next World Parkinson Congress to be … Read more
Reta Currie, an Ottawa nurse and wellness expert met with Parkinson Society Ottawa, just over a year ago, to discuss her dream of building a team to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro while raising awareness and funds for Parkinson Societies across Canada. Reta was determined to make a difference and she wanted to do this on behalf … Read more
On May 18, 2010, Alice Templin set out on the hike of a lifetime, the 800-kilometre Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It’s a daunting challenge for most people, never mind someone whose walking is “not normal, not natural.” Alice, 61, has Parkinson’s disease, the second most common brain disorder in Canada. It affects … Read more