Parkinson Community Los Angeles (PCLA) announced that they will be expanding their Spanish language programming to include their inaugural Spanish language Parkinson’s Education conference – Life Beyond the Basics (La vida más allá de lo básico) – this Saturday, May 7. The conference will include panels and conversations on the latest in medications and treatments, as well as important information on caregiving and building your Parkinson’s care team.
Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which means it affects the brain. This disease is expressed with both motor symptoms such as slowness of movement and tremors and non-motor symptoms which can include sleep problems, fatigue, and other characteristics. Its causes are unknown and there is no known cure due to the lack of information that is currently available about the disease. [i].
Within the Latino community, much of our understanding of various diseases and autoimmune disorders are insufficient due to our lack of access to resources as well as cultural barriers that prevent us from seeking medical assistance and treatment on a regular basis. We are seeing Parkinson’s Disease develop more severe forms in our community which would give cause to have consistent regular follow-up with our primary care doctors and specialists. [ii].
We had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah King and Lisbeth Garces to talk more about the Event and Parkinsons Disease.
Sarah King has worked as an advocate for people living with Parkinson’s since 2011. State Director for Southern California for the Parkinson’s Action Network from 2012-2015 were she worked with a network of grassroots leaders and volunteer advocates to implement PAN’s initiatives on the state and national levels. During that time she was awarded the “Louis Fishman Award for Outstanding Advocacy” from the Parkinson’s Action Network. She is now the Director of Community Programming, Information & Referral at the Parkinson Community Los Angeles (PCLA).
Lisbeth Garces is a certified Zumba® instructor that since 2017 has been teaching low-income special needs students and people with disabilities about the joy that can be achieved through joyful dance therapy exercises in memory of her late son, Juan Carlos Garces.
Lisbeth envisioned a program that would provide regular classes for people with disabilities. With drive, inspiration, and a gift for dance, she recruited a Board of Directors to form a new non-profit, Juan Carlos Organization, in May of 2012.
PCLA Contact Information
- Sarah King: sarah@pcla.org, (310) 880-3143
- PCLA’s Spanish language resources webpage: https://pcla.org/enfermedad-de-parkinson/(sign up on this page for updates on our Spanish-language programming)
- Our social channels: IG @parkinsons.la — FB @ParkinsonsCommunityLA — Twitter: @PDCommunityLA
- Registration for the conference: https://bit.ly/PDVida
