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Dear PIEN readers, Let me introduce myself. I am Marge Moylan. I have Parkinson's which was diagnosed in 1986. I am 57 now, and have symptoms that go back to my late 30s. I am a member of the Central New York Parkinson's Support Group, Inc. which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next month. Six of our members including me are serving on a steering committee at the Presbyterian Home of Central New York which is in the process of planning a wing which will be a residence for PWP. I know some of your are aware that the Presbyterian Home has opened this Parkinson wing. It seems to be a first. We can't find another like It. Currently the wing has about 6 residents with PD. It is a gradual changeover from an ordinary wing to the Parkinson's wing. At this point staff on that wing have had special training in caring for the Parkinson patient to be more sensitive to our needs. But down the road there will be a complete renovation of this wing to make it as Parkinson friendly as possible. What we are looking for right now are ideas, suggestions of specific things that should be included in the design of the rooms, hallways, and common areas that would make these suitable, accessible and useful for PWP. We need suggestions to pass on to our architect. We have talked about things like a place where we can sit up late to talk, read, watch TV because we have so much trouble sleeping, and things like lines at intervals that are part of the carpeting, to step over to break a freeze, and handrails on outdoor walkways. We've suggested an exercise room right on the unit in addition to the large rehab center, so that a PWP can go in on his "on" time to get some exercise when it's useful to him. These are the kinds of things we are looking for. If you have any ideas that you would think would make life in a residence such as this better for PWP, please let us know. You can e-mail suggestions to me at [log in to unmask] We are about to enter the fundraising aspect of this project and need some con crete ideas about what we can do to be the biggest help to PWP. Thanks so much. Hope to hear from some of you. Marge Moylan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn