“Hospital Safety for PwP: Aware in Care” - Gena Lennon

The Parkinson’s Foundation launched the Aware in Care campaign in 2011 to help people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) get the best care possible during a hospital stay. According to a recent study, three out of four people with Parkinson’s do not receive medications on time when staying in the hospital. With more frequent hospital visits and a high sensitivity to the timing and dosing of PD medications, people with Parkinson’s face great risks in the hospital.

To protect, prepare and empower people with Parkinson’s before, during and after a hospital visit, we developed the free Aware in Care kit with tools and information to share with hospital staff during a planned or emergency hospital visit.
Gena Lennon is the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Development Manager for the San Francisco Bay area. Gena has worked in development and event management for over 10 years and leads the foundation’s efforts in serving the Bay community through resources, education, and empowerment activities such as the Moving Day event, a walk to fight PD.

HISTORY:
The Santa Cruz County Parkinson’s Group (SCCPG), a project of the not-for-profit EASE PD, Inc. (www.easepd.org), has been a long-standing community organization whose mission is to foster a supportive environment for People with Parkinson’s disease (PwP), their families, friends and caregivers. For more than 25 years, it has been providing a venue for them to meet, socialize, and learn, both from each other and from outside speakers. It also provides community outreach in the form of a newsletter called Movers and Shakers and via informational brochures placed in local physicians’ offices, and since 2010, has presented 3 symposia for the Central Coast Parkinson’s community, which featured local and national experts on the disease.
The group is committed to disseminating the latest scientific information about the disease and in supporting access to much-needed exercise and other therapeutic activities.
The vibrant Santa Cruz Parkinson’s community of those with PD, their family members, and volunteers continues to welcome new members, and hopes to increase its impact in Santa Cruz County.