CHAMPIONING HEALTH EQUITY: RESEARCHER’S QUEST TO EXPAND ADVANCE CARE PLANNING IN HISPANIC PD COMMUNITIES
As part of our 2024-2025 research funding, the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) was proud to award Danielle Shpiner, MD, an APDA Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease Research Grant, which is given to investigators exploring health inequities and/or differences among under-studied Parkinson’s disease (PD) communities.
Dr. Shpiner serves in many capacities at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, including as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology within the Department of Neurology’s Movement Disorders Division. Her clinical and research interests include novel and advanced therapies for PD, health disparities, and medical education.
Dr. Shpiner’s APDA-funded project — Improving access to advance care planning for Hispanic people with Parkinson’s disease — is investigating barriers to advance care planning (ACP) among the Hispanic, Miami-based Parkinson’s population.
ACP is the process through which patients determine and express their future healthcare preferences in case they become unable to do so. This may involve writing their preference down using legal tools called advance directives. While studies have shown that ACP is important to most patients with serious illnesses, access to these discussions is not equal, likely due to a combination of factors such as physician bias, health literacy disparities, and cultural preferences.
“At the University of Miami, we treat a diverse patient population, about half of whom identify as Hispanic — a group that is historically under-represented in PD research. In a previous study conducted by our team, we found that our Hispanic Parkinson’s patients reported less engagement in advance care planning with their health care providers when compared to non- Hispanic patients,” said Dr. Shpiner.
To investigate these barriers, Dr. Shpiner and her team will conduct focus groups and semi-structured interviews with Hispanic people with PD and their care partners. They will explore the reasons why this population has often been unable to access ACP discussions and potential strategies for improvement.
When asked what fuels her passion for research, Dr. Shpiner said, “I love having the opportunity to contribute to science that will help us develop better ways of caring for Parkinson’s patients and eventually find a cure!”
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