Live Well Today: Living with and Working in Parkinson’s

living with and working with parkinson's. A group of people on Zoom smiling!

Knowing someone living with Parkinson’s changes your life. It can even set you on a new career path, which has been the experience of nearly 1/3 of the Davis Phinney Foundation staff who have a family member who lived with or lives with Parkinson’s.  

In this webinar, these Foundation staff members share their stories and talk about the benefits and challenges of working in the Parkinson’s world while concurrently having an intimate relationship to Parkinson’s as a care partner or living with Parkinson’s oneself. 

Show Notes

The Core Message: People with Parkinson’s are Inspiring 

We won’t go into the details of each staff member’s experience—please watch the video to witness their passion and hear them describe their journey--but there is a common thread tying together our staff member’s stories: inspiration.

Through their personal Parkinson’s experiences, the featured members of our staff learned of the courage, ingenuity, and fortitude of people with Parkinson’s, which inspired them to commit to supporting the Parkinson’s community.  

Comorbidities of Parkinson’s and Care Partner Self-Care

Two other threads from this webinar are the challenges of comorbidities and the importance of self-care for Parkinson’s care partners.  

Parkinson’s is associated with increased incidence of multiple other health issues, and navigating these challenges at the same time as Parkinson’s is tough. It can be difficult to determine which issues to prioritize.  

Navigating comorbidities of Parkinson’s is just one of many difficulties Parkinson’s care partners face. That care partners have their own health concerns, too, shines light on the importance of self-care for Parkinson’s care partners. 

Seek Balance and Avoid Social Isolation 

One critical part of self-care is avoiding social isolation. Find—or start!--a support group. Join our monthly Living With Parkinson’s Meetup and Care Partner Meetup. Reach out to us: We are always happy to connect. 

Know, too, that it is important to balance focus on Parkinson’s with focus on other important parts of your life. Even those members of our staff with intimate connections to Parkinson’s who have dedicated so much of their lives to the Parkinson’s community maintain a broad range of other active interests. 

They play hockey, garden, voraciously read, and support their children with their whole hearts. They travel and cycle and scuba dive. They make and delight in music, and they try to make as much time to play as possible--and this is just scratching the surface.

We encourage everyone living with Parkinson’s to find ways to remain active in what interests them. We are here for you. Reach out to us any time; we love to hear from you! 

 Additional Resources  

Social Withdrawal in Parkinson’s 

Reducing Social Isolation 

Relationships, Community, and Parkinson’s 

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