Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center Launches Special Support Program for Hispanic Community

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Jan 19, 2012, 11:00 ET

PHOENIX, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A unique support program is being launched by the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at St. Joseph's Hospital's Barrow Neurological Institute for Hispanic Parkinson's disease patients. Hispanics are the ethnic minority most impacted by Parkinson's in the United States.

Beginning this month, the community health volunteer project called the Muhammad Ali Promotores Program will send specially trained volunteers to patients' homes to teach them and their caregivers how to live with and cope more successfully with the disease.

"The Muhammad Ali Promotores program is the first of its kind for Parkinson's disease in the nation," says Claudia Martinez, the Hispanic outreach coordinator at St. Joseph's Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center located in downtown Phoenix. "Serving two important purposes, the pilot program will function as a resource for individuals in need as well as a source for research about improving quality of life for people living with Parkinson's." Martinez said patients and their families will be measured at the beginning and end of the program to evaluate understanding of the disease and their individual roles in its treatment.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, slowly progressive neurological disorder that affects movement and coordination—making it difficult for some individuals to travel for the support they need. Although there is presently no cure, there are treatment options to manage its symptoms in order to maintain quality of life.

The program consists of specially trained health volunteers, called Promotores, who have undergone extensive instruction at the Center and have taken additional college courses in community health work and human relations. Each volunteer is assigned to several households where they will provide 12 in-home visits.

"I became involved with the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center when my mother was diagnosed," says Lourdes Flores de Cordova, a program volunteer from El Mirage, AZ. "I want to help others by giving them more information about how to control their Parkinson's and to help them have a better, more normal life."

The Muhammad Ali Promotores educate families about the disease and its effects on day to day life. As members of the Hispanic community, the Promotores are able to reach across common language and cultural barriers to provide peer support. The program's innovative tools allow volunteers to engage their participants through story telling while maintaining a trusting environment.

About the Center: The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence and a comprehensive resource for people with Parkinson's and their families. Established in 1997 by Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Walker, and Dr. Abraham Lieberman, the Center is committed to providing excellence in diagnosis, treatment, therapy, research and education for people with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.

SOURCE St. Joseph's Hospital