I am forwarding the message below as requested and because it sounds like
a great idea to me. Barb
===========================================================================
Barbara Patterson [log in to unmask]
HSC 2J22 905-525-9140, ext. 22403
School of Nursing
===========================================================================
Would a letter like this written by one of the National PD
Organization Chairman bring about the first step toward one
united PD organization? The suggested letter follows. Please
assume that it is written by the Chairman of one of the
national groups.
XYZ National Parkinson's Organization
April 28, 1999
Dear Mr./Ms. Chairman of the Other National Parkinson's
Organizations
My purpose for writing this letter to you is to pursue
efforts to open up communications between our very
successful Parkinson's organizations. I have been following
the Parkinson listserv and once again noticed the community
we serve speaking out for unity among our organizations.
I have seen the results of increased cooperation and believe
there was some real value. I would like to see more success
stories and have developed "talking points" that I would
like to see presented to our boards. My hope is to generate
as much cooperation as possible between our groups. You will
see in our fall newsletter the activities that we have
planned for the year 2000. I would be thrilled to see these
projects as joint efforts as well as any that you may be
planning for 2000.
I devised the "talking points" to enable a free exchange of
ideas between our groups that might yield opportunities for
us to serve the PD Community even better. The list is
comprehensive and is my attempt to cover as many areas as I
could come up with that might present opportunities to do
that.
I happen to be one of the people that believes that merging
what we do would result in better overall service to the
community, probably less work for some of us, less confusion
in the overall community and less confusion in the Parkinson
community. There of course would be issues that would need
careful and meaningful dialogue for us to be able to move
forward, but I am prepared to devote this coming year to
achieve that end. From my personal experiences, a project of
this nature would have to have some milestones and a set
timeline or it just would not happen. I have included some
milestones and dates to help get us all focused on what we
might work on as the months come and go during 2000.
I hope you will give this serious consideration and will
show this letter and attachment to your board in January. I
plan to do that with our board. I would be happy to do that
jointly with you as a show of support from the chairman of
our great organizations. Please write or call me at your
convenience.
Respectfully,
Chairman - PD Organzation
------------------------------------------------------------
----------
The Parkinson Coalition
Talking Points
Can we expand this Coalition concept to benefit the PD
community?
What are the areas that we believe might benefit?
Are there any that do not make sense? Why/Why Not?
Possible areas to pursue:
Information and referral
Therapy Groups
- Occupational
- Physical
- Speech
-Aqua
Support Groups
- Joint, Caregiver, PWP, Neuro-surgical, men, women
Forums/Symposiums
Membership
Fundraisers/Galas
Newsletters
Public Service Announcements
Public relations, media relations, political relations
Bookkeeping/accounting - Coalition
Audit fees - Coalition
Office space
Medical community relations
Research Support
How might we start?
Have our boards separately develop a list of areas that
might make sense for the Coalition to put together.
Meet and discuss similarities and dissimilarities of these
lists and develop an action plan as appropriate.
Possible time line:
January - introduce idea to both boards
February - conduct first joint meeting
March - develop organization plan to address Coalition areas
- appoint teams, individuals or entire boards to work on
specifics
April - Present proposals to the boards
- Adopt, reject or continue work
May - develop implementation plan
June - August - implement the plan
