Erin Morley, OTR/L
Coal Valley, IL
I am an occupational therapist who specializes in neurologic conditions including Parkinson’s disease. I had the opportunity to get certified in the LSVT BIG program and the Parkinson Wellness Recover (PWR!) Moves program and use both these frameworks with my PWP to help retrain movement to meet the goals we identify in therapy. I work within my community to connect with PWP and their support systems by helping facilitate support groups and providing free Parkinson’s specific exercise groups.
I work with people living in all stages of Parkinson’s and have seen great examples of “living well with Parkinson’s” at every stage. To me it means that a person with Parkinson’s has accepted the reality of their diagnosis and has moved forward to identify how to manage the symptoms to continue to do the things they enjoy doing, spend time growing and nurturing their support system, and continue to make achievable goals for themselves.
I became an Ambassador with the Davis Phinney Foundation because it encompasses the values and services I wanted to expand in my community. I wanted an organization that was focused on improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s right now. It was also very important to me that people living with Parkinson’s were centralized and heavily involved as members and leaders in the organization and the DPF is a great example of this.
I am most excited to use this position to increase resources for PWP as well as connect people to the resources we already have. We have some great resources already, like support groups and Parkinson-specific exercise classes, but it can be difficult to locate the information and know which one is best for you. I want to focus on creating a system where all this information is readily available and easy to access and act as the point person to connect people with resources. I also want to create space for medical providers (physicians, APPs, therapists, nurses, aides, etc.) to keep up to date on best practices for PWP and use each other as resources to provide holistic care across an interconnected network regardless of hospital systems/practice affiliation.
I enjoy spending my time with my fiancé doing puzzles, watching reality TV shows, reading fantasy and science fiction novels, going on runs outside without music or a watch, and getting coffee with my friends.