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Local Support Groups For Parkinson’s Disease

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Sharon Chaudhry Bsc Msc Speech

Parkinson’s Support Groups

Sharon graduated with a BS from Utah State University and MS from Longwood University in Virginia. She is Certified and registered with the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologist of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologist . In the United States she has acquired the Certificate of Clinical Competence for Speech Language Pathologists from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association .

Sharon has vast experience working with children with varying disabilities as a speech assistant since 2005 and as a speech language therapist since 2012. Her diverse experience in the school system includes working with children from Preschool to 21 with Autism, ADHD, Intellectual Disability, Hearing Impaired, Multiple Disabilities, Early Childhood Special Education, Head Start .

Sharonâs pediatric assessment and treatment experiences include articulation, language, social language, stuttering, AAC , phonological and phonemic awareness to support reading skills, accent reduction .

Sharon has diverse experience in the therapeutic rehabilitation sector working with patients from 18 years to geriatric with eating and swallowing disorders, traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinsonâs, and neurological disorders. The adult assessment and treatment experiences include managing dysphasia diet and strategies, oral motor, cognition, , language, stuttering, and AAC.

Sharon provides teletherapy services throughout Ontario.

Comparison : Dance Versus Physiotherapy

Irish Dance vs. physiotherapy

Based on one study in this comparison , dancers appeared to have lower severity of disease in the motor examination subscale of the MDS-UPDRS subscale 3 , improved balance as measured by the Berg Balance Scale and better ratings in the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire . However, there were no significant differences in the risks of fall of any cause between groups either during the time of intervention or during the entire study period , as well as the quality of life .

The certainty of evidence is low for all outcomes included in this comparison, due to serious concerns on the risk-of-bias of the included study and imprecision .

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How To Find The Right Support Group

There are plenty of places to find Parkinsons caregivers support, both online and offline. You can easily find local meetings by searching for Parkinsons caregiver support group near me on your phone or computer with your Location Services turned on. If you would prefer to talk to someone about your options, you can call the National Parkinsons Foundation helpline on 1-800-4PD-INFO . If youre looking for your local meeting, you can use the APDA Support Group Finder on the American Parkinsons Disease Association website.

The Caregiver Action Network also has a great Care Community for Parkinson’s disease caregiver support where you can join forums or start your own posting threads. Again, you may find some online forums and chat rooms more uplifting than others, so take your time to explore all of the options.

If youve tried Parkinsons caregivers support groups before and havent found them helpful, its worth talking to your doctor about talking therapy or one-on-one counseling. Plenty of people experience stress or depression when they care for someone with Parkinsons disease, so its not uncommon. However, its important to look after yourself and find the right Parkinsons disease caregiver support for your situation.

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What To Expect From A Support Group

Some in-person groups are small, others are large. Some groups meet during the day, while others gather in the evening or even on the weekend. Some in-person groups meet in a community-based setting, like a YMCA, a library, or a church basement, while others may hold meetings in a hospital conference room, a clinic, or a rehabilitation center.

Meanwhile, online support groups also vary in size and in demographics. Some groups have been around a long time, with members who have formed friendships over the years, while others may be relatively new groups with people who are still getting to know each other.

One thing all support groups have in common in this: They want to help people affected by Parkinsons disease.

Parkinsons Movement Disorder And Alliance

Local Parkinsons Support Group donates $6,000 to Beebe Medical Center

Key Specs

  • Membership fee: Free
  • Structure:In-person support groups, virtual Zoom support groups, chat forums/message boards
  • Details: Offers both in-person and virtual support groups, educational videos and resources, and support is available for care partners
  • Things to do: A survey needs to be completed first before you can participate in the online community

The Parkinsons Movement Disorder and Alliance is a nonprofit organization that focuses on characteristics like empathy, creativity, resiliency, and shared learning.

It also has a wealth of support and educational services. Aside from online programming and Zoom support groups, this organization also offers various in-person support groups located throughout the country.

Additionally, the organization features numerous educational programs like Lunch with Docs, in which individuals can meet with a movement disorder specialist virtually over lunch from the comfort of their own home.

There are free workshops across the country called In Sync for supporting and teaching people interested in developing their skills as a support group leader.

There, people can learn skills and build confidence in designing and leading their own support group for Parkinsons disease or other movement disorders. Leadership experts and healthcare professionals also provide guidance through informational presentations.

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Best Way To Find A Local Support Group

You might also try looking for a support group thats close to home so its easy for you to get involved. Search the PMD Alliances online database of support groups divided by state. You could also ask your doctor for recommendations.

Although every support group for people with Parkinsons disease is designed to help you find the support you need to keep on living your life, every support group is also unique.

Parkinson’s Deep Brain Stimulation Support Group

This is a facilitated group intended for DBS recipients and their carepartners, not those researching or awaiting a DBS procedure. Members can expect a safe space to support each other and engage through sharing their experiences, feelings, coping strategies and knowledge about Parkinsons and DBS. Individuals wishing to be in the company of others and only listen are also welcome.

  • 2nd Tuesday, 7-8pm PT

Use the above link to register. Following registration you will be provided with the link to log in to the group. For more information, contact Liz Janze at: 1-800-668-3330 ext. 228 or

Monthly online support group designed for individuals caring for someone with advanced Parkinson’s disease, which can be characterized by complex medical needs and/or changes in cognition that require help in almost all areas of daily life.

  • 4th Thursday, 9am-10:30am PT

Use the above link to register. Following registration you will be provided with the link to log in to the group. Email questions to .

This weekly support group is for all family caregivers to a loved one with Parkinsons. This is an open, conversational group hosted by Charles Schiell, who was a care partner to his father with Parkinsons.

  • Tuesdays, 7:30pm PT

A professionally facilitated support group for all care partners and family members of someone with Parkinson’s Disease.

  • 3rd Monday, 7:30pm-8:30pm PT

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Assessment Of Heterogeneity Meta

We used the I2 statistic to quantify the degree of heterogeneity in the results , with a cut-off of 50% and above considered as substantial heterogeneity. We pooled data and performed meta-analysis where appropriate, using a random-effect model in the RevMan 5.4 software . We reported our results using mean difference and risk ratio for continuous and dichotomous outcomes respectively with their 95% confidence intervals . We performed certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach for all the outcomes and highlighted some major outcomes using one Summary of findings table for each comparison . Further details on our methodology, including how we addressed heterogeneity, undertook meta-analysis and performed GRADE certainty-of-evidence rating are available in Additional File .

We performed our meta-analysis by entering all data into the Review Manager software version 5.4, where the effect size calculations were automatically performed, using the inverse variance approach with the following core formula in calculating weighted average: \ }_}^)}\), and with additional incorporation of the random effect model using DerSimonian and Laird method , which includes the following additional formula to calculate the prediction interval that takes into account of the variance between studies: \ .

If You Are A Discussion Moderator

A Glove To Treat Parkinsons Disease?

If youre a moderator or a facilitator for a support group for people with Parkinsons disease, or family members or caregivers for people with Parkinsons disease, you play a very important role in helping the group to be a success. You can start by setting an agenda for each meeting so everyone knows what to expect.

A few other tips for getting the conversation flowing:

  • Start with opening questions that help people to settle in and get comfortable.
  • Make sure everyone knows the ground rules and expectations.
  • Give everyone the opportunity to speak and to be heard.
  • Encourage members to listen when others are speaking.
  • Be respectful if some people choose not to share.
  • Use a handheld microphone in case some people are soft-spoken.
  • Develop some strategies to handle situations in which a few people monopolize discussions.
  • Ask group members to brainstorm topics for future discussions or suggestions for guest speakers.

You also might check out resources from organizations like the Parkinsons Foundation that can help you plan your meetings, encourage participation, and foster the connections that are so vitally important to support group members.

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Elisabet Was Shocked To See People Who Had Become Dependent On Someone Else And Preferred To

When I was first diagnosed, I, I knew nothing, I, I had seen one person with Parkinsons and that was a long time ago when I was a child. So I knew nothing about the disease. I read a little bit and I became a member of the local Parkinsons Association. And I went to a couple of their meetings and what I saw there made me very depressed because people, I had mainly tremor and the people I saw there had, you know this, dyskinesia. I had a little bit of that but there were people with large involuntary movements and with rigidity, stiffness, they froze. And I have mainly the tremor which was in a way bad enough but also very lucky because my movements, my moving about was in no way hampered. So I stopped going to the meetings of the association although Im an organising person, I, I felt that was too much. That was too depressing to see how that many people were, and also there were men with very helpful spouses and I thought Oh my God to become so dependent on someone else. Thats heavy. So my feelings of acceptance was simply maybe the denial in another form.

Your Link To Local Resources

Overview

The Parkinsons Support Group of Humboldt County welcomes you. Most individuals that reach this page have probably been newly diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and are searching for information and/or resources. That is why this page was designed early 2021 to let you know there are programs available in Humboldt County. The Parkinsons Support Group started about February 1995 and we are now reaching out thru the Internet.

More and more of the current research coming available shows that exercise is a critical element to an effective Parkinsons Disease management program. The links listed on the Resources tab provide a partial list of resources available in Humboldt County.

Whats Happening Currently?

Exercise has been shown to be one of the most important aspects to slow down the progression of PD. Locally, there are classes for Rock Steady Boxing, PWR! Neuro-movement and Chair Yoga. All are currently taught via Zoom. Guest presentations are also given periodically via Zoom. for local services and more information.

Currently there are two interest groups that are actively meeting. Both meetings are held via Zoom. One meeting is designed for individuals with Parkinsons and the second is for caregivers.

The Parkinsons Support Group meets via Zoom every Wednesday at 9:00 For more information contact: Phone: 707-822-7923 Email: thomasbethune@gmail.com

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Dance Can Help Slow Progression Of Parkinsons Research Finds

New research is offering hope to at least 6 million people across the globe living with Parkinsons disease, a progressive neurological disorder caused by a lack of dopamine, which is needed to help nerves communicate. There is no cure, but a specific course of music and movement can help slow progression of the disease.

Up until his late 50s, Manny Torrijos wasnt much of a dancer. But in the 13 years since he was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease, dance has become part of his identity. He can be found three times a week at a program called Dance for Parkinsons Disease.

Its not just a dance, Torrijos told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. Its spiritual.

The neurological disease can cause tremors, trouble walking and talking and, sometimes, cognitive loss. The dance classes have been just the boost that Torrijos has needed.

More than 10,000 people participate in the classes across 26 countries. The movements are designed to stimulate physical and cognitive ability.

We do try to bring in really tangible, real life activities and gestures, so that when people leave the studio, they have a deeper understanding of how they can function in the world, said David Leventhal, who has been teaching the class at the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn for 20 years. One of our participants said, Music is like a red carpet that rolls out in front of me and allows me to move in ways I cant otherwise move.’

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Jillian is a Communicative Disorders Assistant who completed her post graduate certificate at Georgian College. She completed her un-dergraduate degree in sociology at Nipissing University, where she specialized in qualitative research. She has been working in the speech and language field for 8 years. Jillian has a wide range of experience working with children with articulation and language delays, fluency and stuttering, literacy, ASD and global delays. She has worked with chil-dren who are non verbal and require low-tech or high-tech devices to aide in communication.

Jillian also works extensively with adults in the areas of accent re-duction, voice therapy, cognitive communication, acquired brain injury, augmentative and alternative communication, and ASD. Jillian continu-ously participates in professional development to stay up to date in best practices and new research. She takes the time to individualize treat-ment for her clients to make it both engaging and functional. She works alongside family members, community members and other support networks to support clients as best as possible.

Jillian provides speech therapy in Mississauga and Brampton are-as.

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Making It More Accessible

Leventhal, who gave up performing five years ago to devote all of his time to the project, has been making the program more widely available and providing opportunities for practice between classes. The flagship Dance for PD program in New York has developed three DVDs, which have been distributed to 4,000 people worldwide, and last year began live streaming classes from Brooklyn and Toronto.

Mark Morris Dance Group, together with the New York creative agency SS+K, has also created Moving Through Glass, custom software for use on the Google Glass platform to help Parkinsons patients navigate the world outside the dance studio. The application enables users wearing the device a head-mounted display in the form of a pair of eyeglasses to play modules in which Mark Morris dancers give prompts, taking them through home exercises to help with specific problems, like regaining balance or unfreezing the limbs. The app is being evaluated at three locations around the country, including Stanford, where Bronte-Stewart has recruited dance class participants to try it out.

Dance for PD, meanwhile, is becoming a widely accepted form of Parkinsons therapy. Stanford recently added a second class that meets on Monday afternoons.

Kevin Resisted Joining The Local Group Because He Thought It Would Be Full Of Old People He

I went down to London to Parkinsons Disease Society headquarters in Victoria about six, nine months ago because theres like, theres was a, there was a research establishment in there giving a lecture on stem cell research. And when I was down there, I met a few young people, and some of those young people hadnt joined their local Parkinsons Society because there were basically, mostly older people. Theyd like to join the society if it was for, you know, a young persons society, which Id like to do. But theres not one about. But having said that, the society here in is really good, very good.

Before the first time you went to that, how did you feel about going to it beforehand?

I felt that it wasnt for me, its for older people. I had this vision of people in their, all being in wheelchairs, I was nicely surprised that I had trouble spotting in the room who were the carers and who had symptoms because theyre all on drugs, apart from one or two people in wheelchairs shaking away. I never envisaged that I would go back again but Ive been going every since. I think its a really, really good idea.

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A Nonprofit 501 c 3 organization. EIN 26-4144151

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