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Dear Annette, Speaking for myself, I applaud your interdisciplinary program! PD is complex and can affect many different areas of life. A team of therapists should be available to everyone with PD, in my opinion. I would only add that I wish your team included a registered dietitian. Nutrition issues can be complex, and proper nutrition can help people avoid so many of the hospitalizations that occur all too often in PD. > Our team consists of a consultant who specialises in PD, a PD specialist > nurse, a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech and language > therapist and social worker all with special interests in PD. The U.S. has similar programs, such as the Parkinson Outreach Program, in some of the larger cities; however, many rural areas do not have access to them, and I regret this. I have performed consulting services at several of these sites, and have always been impressed at the quality of the healthcare team, and the progress made by the people who take part in the therapies. I wish such programs could be available to all. > Do you think this kind of research is > useful? In my mind, there is no question of its usefulness. I only wish that I could see people much earlier -- I often first see a client in the mid-to-late stage of PD, when chronic nutrition-related disease is difficult to reverse. > There has been little research on a multidisciplinary approach to > caring for people with PD, but we hope this research will show the > value of > this service and more professionals will follow. I believe your work will prove to be invaluable, and only wish I'd known of your group sooner -- I was in London last June 12, at the Science & Practice of Multidisciplinary Care in Parkinson's Disease, where I presented a poster on a pilot study, "Risk for malnutrition and bone fracture in Parkinson's disease." I was very impressed with the quality of the studies and speakers, and learned a great deal. If I can offer any help from the perspective of a U.S. health professional, please let me know. Best regards, Kathrynne -- Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD "Nutrition you can live with!" Medical nutrition therapy http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/ Tel: 970-493-6532 // Fax: 970-493-6538