Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Podcast · Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy

DD SIG: Navigating the Path Episode 2: The Parkinson's Foundation

·27 min·1 clip

The hospital safety guide tells people to advocate for on-time medications and movement in the hospital.

1. Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Podcast's DD SIG: Navigating the Path Episode 2 centers on the Parkinson's Foundation and its resources for people with Parkinson's. 2. Ken Venaco, a physical therapist at Brown University Health and a DDSIG podcast committee member, hosts Donna Sperlakis, the Foundation's Senior Director of Community Engagement, whose role includes community education programming. 3. The episode asks what the Parkinson's Foundation actually offers to patients, care partners, and clinicians, and Donna answers with specific tools, training, and funding programs. 4. Donna says the foundation's mission is to make lives better for people with Parkinson's through research, care, education, and empowerment. 5. She highlights educational tools for the public and professionals, including print resources that clinicians can download and share with patients. 6. Ken points to the exercise infographic as one of the clearest patient-friendly resources, and Donna says it grew out of a fitness initiative and best-practice work. 7. Donna says the exercise infographic is one of the foundation's most popular resources because people repeatedly ask how much and what kind of exercise to do. 8. She notes that the foundation has been expanding Spanish resources and translated over 50 website pages into Spanish in the last year. 9. Donna describes the care partner guide as a replacement for the lengthy 'Caring and Coping' book. 10. She says the new guide includes worksheets, links, appointment planning tools, and practical steps for the future. 11. Donna and Ken say the newly diagnosed guide was designed around the question, 'What can I do now?' rather than long background explanations. 12. Donna explains that the foundation is also creating print-friendly versions of resources so clinicians can hand them out in offices more easily. 13. She describes PD Health at Home as a webinar series that started during COVID, expanded internationally, and has now reached more than 65 countries. 14. Donna names three parts of PD Health at Home: Mindfulness Mondays, Wednesday webinars, and Fitness Fridays. 15. She says Fitness Fridays evolved from prerecorded videos into one live session each month and that the archives go back to early sessions led by Joellen Fox. 16. Donna explains the hospital safety guide as part of a hospital care initiative built around medication timing, moving safely, and helping patients advocate for themselves. 17. She says the guide was redesigned from a bag into a book with tear-out resources, medication spaces, and a symptom checklist for healthcare providers. 18. The interview style stays practical and conversational, with Ken asking for examples he can use in physical therapy and Donna answering with program details. 19. Clinicians, care partners, and people with Parkinson's who want usable resources. 20. Listeners wanting a personal disease narrative or dense research discussion.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Podcast