Parkinson’s Foundation Holding Upcoming Team Training Program for Healthcare Professionals in Atlanta

The Parkinson’s Foundation’s next education program course for healthcare professionals who treat Parkinson’s patients will be held in Atlanta, the nonprofit announced in a press release.

Called Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s (ATTP), the three-day program will take place Oct. 17-20, with Emory University and the Medical College of Georgia — both Parkinson’s Foundation Centers of Excellence — serving as course partners.  

A Center of Excellence is an academic medical center with a specialized team of healthcare professionals who are on top of the latest Parkinson’s medications, therapies, and research. Globally, the foundation has 45 Centers, including 31 in the U.S.

Since 2002, ATTP has trained more than 2,000 healthcare professionals in North America. The curriculum comprises best practices based on cutting-edge research using a team-based approach. The course includes interactive case presentations and care planning with Parkinson’s patients and caregivers; patient and caregiver panels; and opportunities to network with national and regional health professionals.

“The Parkinson’s Foundation is committed to providing healthcare professions with the latest research and best practices that improve care for people living with Parkinson’s disease,” said John L. Lehr, president and CEO of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “Attendees will learn to deliver personalized and patient-centered care at the right time throughout the continuum of the disease.”

The program is designed for physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, occupational therapists, speech language therapists, physical therapists, and social workers. Working in teams, participants will learn the best ways to care for those living with Parkinson’s.

Faculty will consist of senior movement disorder specialists. Go here for more information on what the course entails, and how to apply.

Registration rates are $500 per person, or $450 per person for teams of three or more. There is no charge for students and medical doctor fellows.

“Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s will change my group practice and how we interact as a team, which is critically important so that we can work together more efficiently and provide better care,” said George Wong, a board-certified neurologist and co-director of the Jared Neuroscience Center in Springfield, Missouri.

Future ATTP programs are slated for the University of Iowa (spring 2019), the Medical University of South Carolina (fall 2019), Massachusetts General Hospital (spring 2020), Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Minnesota (fall 2020), Oregon Health & Science University (spring 2021), and University of Kansas Medical Center (fall 2021).

“Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s fills an important educational need for practicing healthcare professionals by providing updates in assessment and treatment with simultaneous training in inter-professional team-based care,” said registered nurse and movement disorder specialist Ruth Hagestuen, who founded ATTP.

A particularly innovative and important course aspect has each participant developing treatment plans based on their own care setting and community, Hagestuen said.

For more information on the Parkinson’s Foundation’s other professional educational offerings, go here.