World Parkinson's Education Program

Introduction:

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition which affects 100,000 Canadians, one million Americans and more than 6.3 million people across the world. World Parkinson's Education Program is dedicated to promoting knowledge about Parkinson's disease among health care professionals, caregivers and patients with Parkinson's disease.

World Parkinson’s Education Program is an ideological movement that is focussed on improving the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease. The program is based upon the philosophy of its founder that knowing about one’s ailment helps the individual to better cope with their illness. The central theme of WPEP is “those who fight Parkinson’s with knowledge always find solution”. Although, official language of WPEP is English, but it aims to provide information in local languages. The program is operated entirely by volunteer individuals and not aimed to have any financial motives. The program has no political affiliations.  The goals of WPEP are as follows:

1. To improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients
2. To increase the public awareness as well as sharing of knowledge and information about Parkinson’s disease
3. To promote research and education about Parkinson’s disease
4. To support all national and international organizations with the aim of promoting cause of Parkinson’s disease

The Program aims to establish connections with all private and public institutions in order to exchange information about Parkinson’s disease.
Every individual or institution can join the free online community of the program and will be able to receive the periodic electronic newsletter.

Program Committees are composed of three central components:

1. The Central Executive Committee
2. The International Advisory Board
3. Scientific and education Committee

The Central Executive Committee
The members of the Central Executive Committee are in charge of the day-to-day functioning of the Program.

International Advisory Board
The International Advisory Board consists of physicians and neurologists from different countries around the world. They assess the needs of the Parkinson’s community in their countries and advise the program accordingly.

Scientific and Education Committee
The Scientific and Education Committee consists of Parkinson’s disease experts, who will contribute to the scientific content of the educational material of the Program. The Scientific Committee will review information about Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson's disease:

Parkinson's disease makes up about 80 % of cases of Parkinsonism. It is the idiopathic type of Parkinsonism. It was initially described by James Parkinson in 1817 a physician in London, England. Parkinson's disease is characterized by the clinical features of resting tremor, rigidity, akinesia or brakykinesia and postural instability or gait problems (TRAP). Other features of Parkinson's disease are reduced facial expression , drooling , fatigue , trouble turning , freezing , balance problems , speech problems , small handwriting , difficulty buttoning , brushing teeth , combing hair , or applying makeup.