Portland, Oregon Prepares for 2016 World Parkinson’s Congress in September

The nonprofit Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon (PRO) will unveil a series of Parkinson’s Ready training for the Portland Police Department, local hospitals and clinics (Legacy Health Systems), Portland International Airport security services (Transportation Security Administration), and local hotels in downtown Portland.

The initiative is included in the organization’s program for the 2016 World Parkinson Congress (WPC), of which PRO is a sponsor. The congress is Sept. 20-23 in Portland. More than 4,000 international delegates are expected to attend for updates on the latest issues regarding Parkinson’s disease (PD).

The fourth triennial World Parkinson’s Congress will include four days of continuous meetings and workshops, an art show, music, dance performances, and an exhibit hall. Guest speakers will come from around 60 countries.

The congress offers an exciting opportunity for Parkinson’s patients, caretakers and family to meet with specialized healthcare professionals, research scientists, pharmaceutical industry representatives, government representatives, as well as staff from nonprofit agencies from around the world.

The Parkinson’s awareness training sessions were organized by PRO together with its local organizing team to provide a high-level overview of the disease’s symptoms, supported by practical and concrete information for common or anticipated situations.

The sessions will last one hour and include one trained staff member paired with a Parkinson’s patient. The training workshops and video webinars will focus on educating organizations focused on serving the public to better understand how patients with Parkinson’s react to new events, usually slowly, often with confusion, slurred speech and mobility problems.

PRO board member Dr. Richard Rosenbaum, MD, a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease working for the Portland Parkinson’s Program, will be conducting in-person training for medical staff and emergency department personnel along with his colleague Dr. Kieran Tuck at Legacy Emanuel and Good Samaritan Medical Centers.

“We hope that this extra effort training local Legacy Health Systems personnel isn’t necessary during the Congress, but we want our staff to be prepared for the special needs of people with Parkinson’s,” Rosenbaum said in a press release. “The two closest hospitals to the event are part of the Legacy Health System network, so as a member of the Local Planning Committee, I volunteered myself and my colleagues to provide training and grand rounds in the weeks preceding the 2016 World Parkinson Congress.”

At the WPC, Rosenbaum will present a poster, together with colleagues from Legacy and the National College of Natural Medicine, about their research on the therapeutic potentials of the ketogenic diet (where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy) in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.