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Dear Mary Yost: I wasn't ignoring your message of July 31 - I was on holiday. I'm back and ready to strap on the New Project harness and give you as much information as I have re a UK plan for a PD residential village. I subscribed to the Parkinson Disease Society of the United Kingdom newsletter in l991-92 and one of the newsletters had an article discussing the PDS becoming aware of problems faced by both PD sufferers and carers living in the community. I have often worried about people living alone or when carers themselves get sick or too infirm to take care of someone they love who has PD. What happens if the carer dies? Invariably people are pushed into nursing homes where hardly anyone knows anything about PD. Think about the problems with Sinemet alone. Before "coming down with PD" I was a nurse with VNA and even that wonderful caring group doesn't see enough PD to understand the relationship between levadopa and diet (protein), stress and exercise, the on/off phenomenon, dyskinesia, freezing, festination, etc. Treating PD is an art. A medicine juggling act. So in thinking about these problems the PDS found a lot of evidence to suggest that an umbrella of care which was very flexible and well integrated was needed. The "village" was to have l9 purpose-built flatlets arranged in clusters of four around the central, social and recreational facilities. A govenment grant application was successful and the dream began. The turf cutting ceremony took place on lst October l992. I stopped receiving the newsletter at that time so don't know how things are going. I "talked" with Anne Rutherford <[log in to unmask]> of the Newfoundland branch of Parkinson Foundation of Canada about this wonderful idea and she was about to leave for London and would call PDS whilst there for information. I haven't heard from her in this regard. Simon Coles used to message here until his mum died - she had PD. Simon's father was highly involved with the PDS and could certainly tell us what is going on. This idea of a PD village is such a good one we must not let it die on the vine. Our own care people might evaporate one day. Frankly a well set up PD village might suit a lot of us better than depending solely upon a spouse, lover, child or other loving care person, or living in a house of stairs and other hazards. Many of us are still hale and hearty and some will remain so for a long time, but "just in case" it probably is a good idea to have some alternatives to making it alone - or in a nursing home. Regards, Barbara Yacos <[log in to unmask]>