Jun 19, 2018
The Parkinson's Foundation is committed to working with health care professionals to improve the way care is delivered to families affected by Parkinson's disease. One way is through the Foundation’s signature program, Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s (ATTP), developed to increase knowledge of PD and build capacity for comprehensive interprofessional care in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, speech language pathologists, physical, occupational and music therapists learn the best techniques in PD care through a team-based approach in this intensive three to four-day program. The goal is to give attendees the knowledge and tools to deliver interprofessional, patient-centered care at the right time throughout the continuum of the disease. Ruth Hagestuen, founder of the ATTP program, has worked in the Parkinson’s community for many years as a movement disorders nurse and was instrumental in ATTP from the beginning. In this podcast, she describes how the program came about, its goals, what it involves, and how it has spread team training in expert care around the country and around the world.