Bringing movement, knowledge to Parkinson’s community

Education and support for people living with Parkinson’s is growing in the Annapolis Valley, thanks to the dedication of the local Parkinson’s support group and generous funding from the East Kings Community Health Board. 

The Annapolis Valley Parkinson Support Group is an active, engaged group of members and volunteers that run monthly meetings in New Minas. The group recently ran an educational speaker series as well as a music and movement course.  Guest speakers addressed a variety of topics relevant to those living with Parkinson’s and their families.  The support group also organized a 10-week low-impact, upbeat dance series inspired by a Dance Nova Scotia program designed for those living with Parkinson’s as well as their caregivers. The activities promote movement, agility and quality of life. Funding for the programs came from grants of more than $3,000 from the East Kings Community Health Board. 

Parkinson's disease is a brain condition that affects how people move. It can cause shaking, stiff muscles, slow movements; problems that worsen over time. While mainly a movement disorder, Parkinson’s can also have other health affects like mood, sleep and how pain is experienced. 

Kings County residents Beverly and Richard Davies are members of the support group. 

The Davies’ agree that in order to really understand the complexities and challenges associated with Parkinson’s you need accurate and useful information. Beverly knows all about persevering; she’s lived with Parkinson’s for eight years and relies on exercise to help manage her disease. 

“It’s so important,” she says of exercise. “This is what keeps me going forward.” 

Beverly says when she joined the support group following her diagnosis, she found it difficult to acclimatize. Members of the group who were living with Parkinson’s were all in different stages of disease progression. “What made a difference for me was getting to know the people and knowing how they lived,” Beverly says. 

Richard agrees. “There are very interesting stories behind what you see,” he says. 

The support group has over 30 attendees at each session and more than 60 people on the mailing list. 

“It’s a caring group and they present a sense of community among those affected by Parkinson’s,” Richard adds. “We share information, and we learn about the disease and what we can do to live with it.” 

Building on those positive aspects, the group hopes to reach larger audiences through creating podcast to tell stories about people living with Parkinson’s. “Some people have mobility issues and have a tough time getting out of their homes,” notes Beverly, suggesting the audio format, which will be housed on a new website, could attract new interest from listeners unable to attend group meetings. 

 Advocating even further on behalf of the local Parkinson’s community, the support group is pushing for a local Parkinson clinic now that a neurologist has arrived at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville. 

“We really see our role in this group as raising people's awareness of the disease as they may not know much about it and may want to learn about it,” adds Richard. 

Last September group members hosted a Wolfville event as part of the national Parkinson Canada SuperWalk which is a major research and innovation fundraiser held at locations across the country. The Wolfville event raised over $13,000. In addition to the support from the Nova Scotia Health Wellness Fund, the group received a Parkinson Canada Care Grant to run an exercise program in collaboration with the School of Kinesiology at Acadia University. 

For more information contact Parkinson Canada at 1-800-565-3000. 

Photo of Annapolis Valley Parkinson Support Group members Beverly and Richard Davies of Kings County.