Parkinson’s Mentorship Program | Norton Healthcare Louisville, Ky.

Newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients and those living with the disease can benefit from a relationship with someone who can help them understand their disease or simply someone to talk to about it.

The Norton Neuroscience Institute’s Parkinson’s Mentorship Program matches patients with doctoral candidates studying physical therapy at Bellarmine University’s School of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences.

As mentors to each other, patients and students have the opportunity to form meaningful relationships that are mutually educational as well as emotionally and physically beneficial to the patient. Based on clinical research, the program enables students and patients to work together to improve patients’ self-confidence and quality of life, as well as reduce social isolation.

For patients, mentorship programs with students can expand their social circle. Students benefit from building relationships with patients with Parkinson’s disease and becoming more familiar with the realities of living with Parkinson’s disease.

The Norton Neuroscience Institute Parkinson’s Mentorship Program is offered by the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana, part of the Norton Neuroscience Institute Resource Centers, in partnership with Bellarmine University School of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences. The program pairs students from Bellarmine University’s Physical Therapy Doctoral Program with local Parkinson’s disease patients for an educational relationship.

The program runs from August 2022 to April 2023. Participants meet two to three times per academic semester.

Goals of the Parkinson’s Mentorship Program

  • To educate physical therapy students about the real-life aspects of living with Parkinson’s disease and the quality of life issues that patients face.
  • To introduce students to research and career opportunities in neurology and movement disorders.
  • Provide opportunities to build relationships between students and patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Who can participate

  • People who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at any stage and:
    • Are interested and committed to interacting with health professions students
    • Are independently mobile or have a carer who can provide assistance
  • Bellarmine University students who:
    • Are entering their first, second or third year of physical therapy school
    • Are in a health professional pathway or
    • Have an interest in interacting with and learning about patients with Parkinson’s disease

Activities may include going to the library, playing board games, going for a walk, attending a Parkinson’s meeting or program, exercising, sharing a meal, and attending an art exhibit or a musical performance.

This is an educational program and students are not permitted to provide treatment or medical advice.

For more information

Comments are closed.