Why PD Wise?
The idea for PD WISE started in a conversation with my friend Chris Tracey. Both of us were diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease, and one night over dinner we reflected on the importance of forming and nurturing personal connections with others who live with Parkinson’s and also of learning about others’ experiences with the disease. PD WISE was created as a hub for sharing personal stories, experiences, and wisdom gained from living with Parkinson’s and aims to encourage these connections and opportunities for learning.
Guiding Principles
- Being a part of a supportive and informed community helps us live well with Parkinson’s disease.
- Telling and hearing stories of Parkinson’s benefits those who have the disease; their families, care partners, and friends; and researchers, health care workers, and the larger public.
- People with Parkinson’s experience the disease in both similar and different ways, and thus have common and distinctive stories and needs.
- Personal stories of Parkinson’s disease enrich current efforts in research, education, and advocacy; and efforts to raise both awareness of the disease and funding for its treatment and cure.
- US is stronger and more hopeful than I.
About Allan Cole
I serve as Deputy to the President for Societal Challenges and Opportunities at The University of Texas at Austin, where I am also the Bert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor in Social Work in The Steve Hicks School of Social Work and, by courtesy, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Dell Medical School. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2016, at the age of 48, I am the author or editor of many books on a range of topics related to bereavement, anxiety, and spirituality. My latest books are Counseling Persons with Parkinson’s Disease (Oxford University Press); my first book of poetry, In the Care of Plenty: Poems (Resource Publications); and Discerning the Way: Lessons from Parkinson’s Disease (Cascade).
Follow me on Twitter @PDWise.
Please subscribe to PD WISE, and please let me hear from you if you have ideas for stories or any other feedback. You may email me at allan@pdwise.com.
Allan Cole