APDA is Committed to Reaching & Supporting More People with Parkinson’s Disease
NEW YORK, NY, JUNE 24, 2024 – The mission of the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is to provide the support, education, and research to help everyone impacted by Parkinson’s disease (PD) live life to the fullest. To promote health equality and access to care, education, and support for all those affected by this disease, APDA is committed to expanding its reach to under-served, under-studied and under-represented communities. The organization’s latest step in this direction is the launch of two newly transcreated resources – their Walking You Through Parkinson’s Disease webinar and Be Active & Beyond exercise guide – which are now available in Mandarin and Simplified Chinese, respectively. Both resources can be viewed on APDA’s website, and the Be Active & Beyond exercise guide can also be mailed as a hard copy, all free of charge.
“We are so pleased to add these key resources to our library as the next step in better serving the Chinese community,” states Leslie A. Chambers, President & CEO, APDA. “Everyone deserves the same level of care and support, but when there is a language barrier it can be challenging to get access to the information you need to understand your diagnosis, to feel empowered, and to make decisions about your treatment plan. There is a severe lack of credible Parkinson’s disease information available to those who speak Chinese, and we are eager to correct this as much as we can now and moving forward.”
APDA’s Walking You Through Parkinson’s Disease webinar is an essential starting point for those who are newly diagnosed or anyone who is looking to learn more about PD. It provides a comprehensive overview of PD, including an explanation of the disease, common symptoms, available treatments for disease management, practical tips on caring for someone with PD, research currently underway, and more.
Research shows that exercise is a vital component of PD treatment. APDA’s Be Active & Beyond exercise guide provides timely information on exercises designed specifically for people with PD. It includes a daily exercise program complete with step-by-step instructions with images for clarity, as well as an exercise log to help track efforts. The guide provides the information and tools that will get you started, or keep you going, on your journey toward improved wellness.
These two new resources join those previously transcreated by APDA for the Chinese community:
- The APDA Parkinson’s Disease Handbook can be thought of as the written counterpart of APDA’s Walking You Through Parkinson’s Disease webinar. It is a reliable reference guide for those seeking a comprehensive overview of PD.
- APDA’s Medical ID Card for those with PD. Many people with PD exhibit symptoms that can be misconstrued, and the Medical ID Card can help alleviate these misunderstandings and put people at ease. It can also serve as an important form of communication with first responders when patients are in an emergency situation. The common visible symptoms of PD such as tremor, a masked expression, balance issues and freezing of gait can cause others to think the person with PD is under the influence of alcohol or drugs or is acting suspiciously. APDA’s Medical ID Card not only clarifies the medical issue at hand, but also provides important emergency contact information.
To ensure that their Chinese resources are accurately translated and culturally relevant, APDA enlists the help of several medical experts and staff who are fluent in the language. Dr. Tao Xie, a movement disorders neurologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Medical Director of the University of Chicago APDA Information & Referral Center, has played a key role. He has stated, “many Chinese patients with Parkinson’s disease may find it difficult to fully understand the complexity of the disease and various terminologies in English. Their access to specialty care may not always be possible and their questions related to Parkinson’s disease may not be always properly answered. These resources break the language and terminology barriers, bringing up-to-date expert information to Chinese-speaking members of the Parkinson’s community. This helps them to better understand the disease features, and its diagnosis and treatment, and connect them to the people and organizations who care about them and will support them so they can live life to the fullest.”
In addition to these resources, APDA recently partnered with some of the Chinese researchers whose PD-related projects APDA has funded to discuss their work in Mandarin-spoken videos. These videos will help more people understand the exciting work being done in the realm of PD research and can provide hope and optimism regarding the future of PD:
- Digital Biomarkers for Monitoring Parkinson’s Disease: Dr. Yuanfang Guan, associate professor at the University of Michigan, discusses how her team’s innovative approach to signal processing – at the intersection of machine learning and PD – is paving the way for early detection and objective evaluation of disease progression.
- Using Augmented Reality Cues to Alleviate Freezing of Gait: Dr. James Liao, associate staff at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center of Neurological Restoration, reveals how emerging technologies, such as augmented reality and wearable sensors, are transforming PD patient care.
- Circular RNAs and Exosome: A Potential Candidate for Parkinson’s Earlier Diagnosis and Therapy: Dr. Xianjun Dong, associate professor at Yale University, explores how innovative computational methods are offering new insights into neurological diseases like PD.
Through its nationwide network of Chapters and Information & Referral Centers, along with an extensive array of virtual resources and programming, APDA helps people along every step of their PD journey. By continuing to create resources in additional languages – including Mandarin/Simplified Chinese and Spanish to date – they can expand their reach, serving and supporting more and more people impacted by PD.
For more information about APDA programs, services, support, and PD research, visit www.apdaparkinson.org, call 800-223-2732, or email apda@apdaparkinson.org. For those seeking support in Mandarin, please send an email and a Mandarin speaking team member will get in touch.
About the American Parkinson Disease Association:
The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is a nationwide grassroots network dedicated to fighting Parkinson’s disease (PD) and works tirelessly to assist the more than one million people with PD in the United States live life to the fullest in the face of this chronic, neurological disorder. Founded in 1961, APDA has raised and invested more than $282 million to provide outstanding patient services and educational programs, elevate public awareness about the disease, and support research designed to unlock the mysteries of PD and end this disease. To join us in the fight against Parkinson’s disease and to learn more about the support APDA provides nationally through our network of Chapters and Information & Referral (I&R) Centers, as well as our national Research Program and Centers for Advanced Research, please visit us at www.apdaparkinson.org.
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