Organization leaders come together to spread awareness on Parkinson’s Disease

CORBIN, Ky. (WYMT) - On Saturday, some organizations hosted a ‘renew retreat,’ in an effort to spread awareness of Parkinson’s Disease, one officials said is increasing in Kentucky.

Parkinson’s in Motion, Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Alliance and Revolution Physical Therapy joined forces to provide an educational experience for folks attending.

“There’s such a large community of people living with Parkinson’s in the Southeastern Kentucky community that we really didn’t... I didn’t realize, I don’t think a lot of people realize is how big that community was,” said Revolution Physical Therapist Alex Sears. “Being from Southeastern Kentucky, we don’t have a lot of the resources or didn’t previously have a lot of the resources that would help these people.”

Kelly Papesh with Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Alliance said they wanted to give folks the opportunity to learn more about the disease and how to navigate it in a community where some folks face challenges getting help.

“Often, we find a community where we don’t have a lot of presence or they don’t have a lot of resources at hand. We try to get into the community, find people in the outskirts and bring everybody together so that they can go forward with more resources, more self-advocacy,” she explained.

She said events like this are needed in the region.

“Everybody will know somebody or be touched by Parkinson’s Disease in some way. The more that we can spread awareness and advocacy about this, the better that we’re going to have the world living with Parkinson’s,” she said.

Doug Yost is living with the disease and he said this event helped make an impact.

“If people could be aware of it and know that there’s these kinds of organizations there to help. It brings very positive things,” he explained.

Yost said he enjoyed learning from professionals and meeting other folks with the disease.

For more information on Parkinson’s in Motion, click here.

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