When people live in a rural area it can be very challenging for them to get access to specialty care. What are they missing? What could be different? How can we help? In this episode, Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS sits down with Jamie Haines, PT, DScPT, NCS to discuss her work on a Parkinson's disease monitoring program in rural Michigan. People with Parkinson's in rural areas face significant barriers to accessing specialized care, with only 9% seeing a movement disorder specialist. Jamie's program involved visiting participants 3 times over a year, providing individualized assessments, recommendations, and education. This hands-on approach helped participants improve their fall risk factors, though self-efficacy was slower to change. She shares insights on why that could be and what can be done. Jamie shares key findings from her project and provides advice to those living in rural areas. This work highlights the critical need to address the disparities in Parkinson's care for those living in underserved communities. Jamie's dedication to finding solutions is inspiring, and her insights can help guide future efforts to improve access and outcomes.

To learn more about how the program got started and other details listen to this episode:

173: Improving access to care in rural areas and ramping up creative dual tasking 

https://www.parkinson.org/library/fact-sheets/exercise-recommendations

To get mentorship from Jamie inside NeuroSpark and Parkinson Focus Track visit www.joinneurospark.com today!