INNOVATIVE GRANT HELPS RESEARCHERS EXPLORE NEW HORIZONS
APDA recently hosted the Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease Research Roundtable virtual program to highlight the exciting work we’ve been funding in this area. We know that PD affects people of all ethnicities, ancestries, and geographies, yet for many years, research efforts failed to reflect that. Unfortunately, many clinical trials have not included people from varied backgrounds, which has led to results that may not be applicable to everyone with PD.
In 2019, APDA created its first-ever Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease Research Grant, which is a special one-year grant to study the health inequities and/or differences among under-studied PD communities, across the spectrum of ethnicity, ancestry, geography, socioeconomic conditions, and gender. Six researchers who were awarded this unique grant presented their exciting work during this special program. Visit APDA’s YouTube channel to watch it at any time.
Here are a few key learnings our researchers shared:
- There are pockets of increased incidence of PD among Black people in Atlanta. This may be due to environmental factors such as urban pollution or inadequate nutrition.
- Knowledge of the importance of rehabilitation in PD was lower in under-represented communities prior to diagnosis, but once explained, interest in rehabilitation was strong in all communities. It is therefore imperative for clinicians to explain the importance of rehabilitation to all people with PD.
- Community engagement studios are a valuable method of listening to and understanding the perspectives of community members and informing culturally appropriate and inclusive research. These studios are being employed to understand how to engage the Black community more fully in PD research.
APDA is committed to continuing this specialized grant in addition to the other critical research we fund each year. Learn more information about the cutting-edge research your support helps make possible!