Previous Wellness Programs for Managing Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's Pride: Bold and Successful LGBTQ Initiative
With a grant awarded from the Parkinson’s Foundation, we brought together 20 individuals from around the world with Parkinson’s, who identify with the LGBTQ community for a year of learning and building community. The video created for “Parkinson’s Pride” tells the story better than any written words. It is a story of individuals who have felt marginalized, isolated, challenged by health and social barriers and also resilient. It is a story of the grant’s faculty and workshop leaders who committed themselves to the mission of “Parkinson’s Pride”. It is a story of how our PD Center of Excellence offers programs that touch one person at a time in important ways. As one member summarized, “I never expected the group would be a life changer.”
The grant faculty included Lissa Kapust (Principle Investigator), Lisa Krinsky (Fenway Institute), Mikayla Hyman and Abhilasha Natarajan (BIDMC).
Watch this video about the Parkinson’s Pride Program.
Additional Past Programs
Other previous Wellness Works Program classes and events are listed below.
Barre, Balance & Core
This class included elements of Pilates, ballet, and functional training. On the floor or on your feet, this barre class was designed to enhance the brain-body connection.
Dance For PD
On February 4, 2019, the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Celebrity Series of Boston in association with the Parkinson Disease Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center presented this Dance for PD special event. In this program, Dance for PD founding teacher David Leventhal of the Mark Morris Dance Group taught a dance workshop that was followed by a panel discussion about Dance and PD. Dance for PD is the Mark Morris Dance Group's acclaimed, research-backed global program that invites people with Parkinson's Disease and their families to transform their lives through dance.
Find Your Beat
Drumming is a powerful form of mind-body healing. Therapeutic drumming can reduce stress and anxiety, while providing a vigorous upper body workout.
Living Alone with Parkinson’s
Living Alone with Parkinson’s: A Program Offering Planning, Social Support and Education
2020 COE Community Outreach Resource Education (CORE) Grant Recipient
There is an adage that in life that “timing is everything.” This has certainly been the case for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s “Living Alone with Parkinson’s: A Program Offering Planning, Social Support and Education.” The program, which received funding from the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Outreach Resource Education (CORE) Grant, was written prior to COVID-19 in December 2019. There was not much literature on the subject, so we held a focus group of people with PD who live alone to hear from “the real experts.” Many members of this group have no plans for the future, and if they are no longer able to live alone. This adds an additional layer of stress to the already unpredictable nature of Parkinson’s. This powerful focus group helped to shape the components of this bold and novel program. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that we needed to adapt quickly.
“Living Alone” is a multidimensional program that links patients with experts to help them plan for current and future needs. Group meetings and lectures build social support and provide education on relevant topics for people with PD who are living alone. The heart of the grant includes several components: individualized meetings with a care manager, a home safety assessment with an occupational therapist who specializes in PD, and lectures focused on healthy eating and nutrition for people with PD. As one grant participant said, “I think knowing about services and resources like this is crucial for people with PD. I think it should be shared with neurologists and others who are involved in the care and support of those with PD.”
Watch this video about the Living Alone with Parkinson's program.
Meditation
For thousands of years, meditation has been used to achieve peace, tranquility, and relaxation. Research studies demonstrate that meditation and mindfulness can have a profound, positive impact on the brain. This 8-week group helped participants learn skills to meditate, manage stress, and improve wellbeing. Sessions were co-led by Tsering Yodsampa, a Buddhist Lama and BIDMC Chaplain, as well as our Social Work Team Leader Lisa Cohen, LICSW.
