April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, with 11 April officially recognised as World Parkinson’s Day. A Parkinson’s diagnosis is life changing, but being resilient, adapting and arming yourself with knowledge is key to living life to the fullest and most importantly being aware that you are not on this journey alone.

Motor – or movement – symptoms are better known but as those living with Parkinson’s know all too well, non-motor symptoms can be just as concerning. They can include a range of issues affecting mental health, cognitive and bodily function, as well as pain and anxiety. 

As Parkinson’s awareness month begins, we wanted to share a glimpse into the world of one of our clients : Roy Hazelwood, a Parkinson’s Warrior. This story also showcases the shared work our dedicated Concentric therapy team does with Roy on a daily basis.  

Roy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2005 and underwent deep brain stimulation in 2021 to help manage his symptoms along with medication and exercise. Roy has enthusiastically attended physiotherapy led Parkinson Disease (PD) warrior classes, speech therapy and exercise physiology at Concentric since 2022.  

Roy completed an intensive block of LSVT (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment) program with his speech therapist Maris working on his speech volume and fluency.  He also currently attends weekly PD warrior group classes led by physiotherapist Felicia, working on big amplitude, high intensity exercise that challenges his dual tasking, balance, coordination and fitness. PD warrior is an intensive exercise based program that drives neuroplasticity change in a fun and dynamic group environment. Concurrently Roy also attends exercise physiology individual sessions with Alex to work on his cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength to be able to achieve his strength and endurance goals.

Roy has SMASHED many goals he has set with his therapy team and here are just a few he has achieved in the past year:

• Roy is able to present confidently at work with voice projection and fluency 
• Roy is able to lead his congregation in singing at church
• Roy is able to maintain his swallowing ability to eat comfortably with friends and family
• Roy is able to take his dog for a walk of up to 5km and dual task (e.g. talk on phone) without mental exhaustion
• Roy recently conquered a 4 day bush trek with his family in Tasmania for 4 days whilst walking 50km carrying a 12kg pack
• Roy is better able to coordinate ankle movement for drumming 

Roy continues to work hard with his voice and physical therapy programs to improve on areas affected by Parkinson’s, and live his best life. We can’t wait to see what Roy achieves next!

If you would like to know more about how the teams at Concentric work together with clients who are diagnosed and living with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease please contact us on 1300 148 160 or email support@concentric.com.au.  For more information about Parkinson’s please visit Parkinson’s Australia website.