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We’re counting the days until we can see you again, but we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer than we’d hoped.
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Parkinson Wellness Projects is committed to ensuring that our fitness classes, counselling, and support groups can be managed safely and securely, and part of that commitment requires us to delay re-opening classes until our staff and instructors have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. BC’s vaccination schedule is out of our control, and while we hoped everyone would have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated by August, unfortunately this is not the case.
Because of this, we aren’t able to give a specific date for re-opening at this time. We’re incredibly excited to see your smiling faces, but your safety and the safety of our staff has to come first. We apologize for any disappointment that this change may have caused.
If you have any questions about our re-opening plans, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Bailey Martin at bailey@parkinsonwellnessproject.org. Thank you all so much for being a part of PWP, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
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Living Well with Parkinson’s:
A Conversation With Jillian Carson
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Join us on Thursday July 22, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, for a conversation about Parkinson’s, PWP, and living with PD. Bailey Martin, PWP’s Program and Education Manager, will be sitting down with Jillian Carson to discuss life with Parkinson’s.
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Jillian was diagnosed with PD in 2009, and before long she realized she wanted to do something to help her local Parkinson’s community. In 2013, Jillian and a group of five people also living with Parkinson’s started exercising at the Panorama Rec Centre.
As the number of participants grew, formal classes with volunteer instructors started at Greenglade Community Centre, eventually growing into the fitness classes that PWP offers today!
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Jillian has relentlessly built awareness of Parkinson’s disease on Vancouver Island and across Canada, secured international partnerships with organizations such as Davis Phinney Foundation and become a respected ambassador for the World Parkinson Coalition. She also found time to ride bicycles in fundraisers and bake cookies for Board meetings. Having guided PWP through formation of a volunteer board, development of the strategic plan to launch a community wellness centre and, most importantly, turning PWP’s new centre into reality, Jillian remains a lifetime member of PWP.
Click below to register for this presentation, or contact us at the office at (250) 360-6800!
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Instructor Highlight: Naomi Ogawa
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Naomi came to Canada after growing up in Malaysia and the Philippines to pursue a Human Kinetics degree at the University of British Columbia. On top of earning a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist designation with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Naomi is also a Certified Athletic Therapist with the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association.
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As with her approach to everything so far in her life, Naomi keeps diversity deeply engrained in everything she does. She currently trains in multiple sports and works with clients of all abilities, ages, sports backgrounds, and goals. The pandemic hasn’t slowed down Naomi; she’s been busy with virtual professional development courses, and is planning to start a Master’s degree this year. She is especially looking forward to returning to in-person classes with the PWP community when we re-open in August.
You can catch Naomi on Monday mornings at 11:00 AM, teaching our PWPFit! classes for all levels. If you’re interested in giving her classes a try, let us know by email or at (250) 360-6800.
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Parkinson's In The News:
Parkinson Wellness Projects has always championed strong patient-doctor relationships, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation has demonstrated why, leading a research project to explore the patient and care partner language of Parkinson’s.
"Asking a patient or care partner to write a letter — instead of relying solely on verbal conversation — illuminates new aspects of the physician-patient-family relationship,” explains study leads Lana Chahine, MD, and Sneha Mantri, MD. “ A letter’s content and style reveal the writer’s anxieties, fears and hopes. We encourage clinicians to ask their patients and care partners to write letters; you may be surprised at what you learn.”
Click here for more information about this study.
Researchers at the Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have completed a ten-year study into the genetics of Young-Onset Parkinson’s, opening the door to new treatment possibilities, after isolating the effects of the ‘parkin’ gene believed to protect the brain from harmful oxidants.
“If we could deliver antioxidants or a healthy copy of the parkin gene into the brains of people with these mutations, this could help slow down or even halt early-onset Parkinson’s,” said co-corresponding author and scientific project manager Dr. Julianna Tomlinson.
Click here for more information!
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Alf Todd is looking for riders for the annual Alf Todd Ride for Parkinson’s!
This year’s ride will be taking place on August 14th, with the option for riders to cover either a 50 km trip or a 150 km journey around the Greater Victoria area, beginning and ending at the PWP offices on Blanshard. Alf’s Parkinson’s rides have raised over $100,000 for Parkinson’s services, and this year he hopes for his biggest ride yet.
Anyone who is interested in taking part in the 2021 Ride for Parkinson’s can email Alf at todds50@telus.net, and anyone looking for more general information can contact our Fundraising and Communications Manager at misha@parkinsonwellnessproject.org
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CanAssist is an organization of the University of Victoria that is dedicated to helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life and to increasing awareness of disability issues. Since its early days as a small volunteer venture, CanAssist has had a direct impact on the quality of life of many thousands of people with disabilities and their families.
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For more Parkinson's resources, visit our Resource page on our website. If you have a resource you would like to add, please let us know!
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