Absolutely everything Parkinson’s
A diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of Parkinson’s or Parkinsonism is one that brings with it a lot of uncertainty about the near and far future, and with that, also plenty of questions. What symptoms will I get, how fast or how slow will my Parkinson’s develop? What about my job; can I continue to work? Or what about my retirement plans? Will it affect my family? How does it work with medications for Parkinson’s and can I actually make a difference myself? Or what we hear often – I am too young to seek help, only old people have Parkinson’s. My symptoms are pretty mild, should I wait to see someone until I am worse? I have been diagnosed a long time ago, is it too late now to start seeking help? What difference really does seeking help for Parkinson’s make anyway?
At Stratford Health hub, we are able to provide you with a large range of services to answer your questions and start working on getting you back in the driver’s seat for Parkinson’s.
Over the years, there has been a lot of research aimed at finding ways to best manage and potentially slow down Parkinson’s. And while there is still a hesitancy in being officially able to say that we can slow down the rate of Parkinson’s progression, a number of potential modifiable variables have emerged. Unsurprisingly, these are all lifestyle factors: exercise, diet, sleep, social health and stress. Which means that we want to see you at the suspicion of or first diagnosis to start working on these factors. If you have been living with Parkinsons for a bit longer, we still need to see you as quickly as possible.
For the specialised holistic services that the hub can offer, we have engaged
- Joyce Matthijssen from https://www.myparkinsons.com.au who has been working in the field of Parkinson’s since 2003.
Joyce is a clinical specialist physiotherapist for Parkinson’s and will see everyone with an existing, new or suspected diagnosis of Parkinson’s or Parkinsonism. When you see Joyce, you can expect to be listened to; she will take time to understand your symptoms, will look at how you move and she will get an objective baseline measurement of where you are and/or should be at this point in time. Joyce will discuss a holistic action plan with you of what you need to do to take back control over Parkinson’s and will guide you along as you live with Parkinson’s. Joyce will also create a network of people around you, communicate with everyone involved so you get the best possible care.
Joyce often does 1:1 skills sessions, which is if activities in daily life are a little harder to do such as walking, turning, balancing, transfers etc, or when she sees this may be an issue in the future so you can work on it now. - Joel Simmons is the exercise physiologist from True North Exercise Physiology, who specialises in exercising for Parkinson’s. Exercise for Parkinson’s may be different from your normal way of exercising and we need to have a good look at that. Joel also runs our Parkinson’s exercise classes (click to view the class timetable) and you would like you to join those ones to make the biggest impact on your symptoms.
- Jennifer Earl our Dietician has years of experience in nutritional needs for Parkinson’s and healthy weight management.