Check out these items recently posted to the Members' pages.
New Members' Blog Post
Guest writer and Dance for Parkinson's teacher Judith Sachs shares her story about teaching classes while dealing with a serious foot injury. Log in here and go to the Blog.
You can continue the conversation via our members' listserv.
Houston and Urbana Champaign programs on video
Since 2009, Parkinson's communities in Houston, TX and Champaign-Urbana, IL have been enjoying high quality Dance for Parkinson's classes sustained through strong partnerships between Parkinson's organizations or groups and established arts organizations. A documentary and a news segment, featured on our Members' AV page, highlight the participants and teachers in each of these programs and the way successful collaborations can feel, in the words of Houston Ballet's Executive Director Jim Nelson, like a "perfect pas de deux".
Program evaluation
Evaluation, whether formal or informal, can be one of the most intimidating aspects of program management for which one size certainly does not fit all. As part of our efforts to maintain a broad portfolio of resources for your disposal, we've added three sample evaluations to our Members' Toolkit: a Life Satisfaction Rating Scale, a Community Health Education Evaluation (courtesy of Evergreen Hospital), and a teaching- and content-focused scale developed by Philadelphia-based Dance for Parkinson's teacher Fran Bartlett. See our Members' Toolkit under the heading "Evaluation Tools".
Making the case for free or low-cost classes
In this clear and convincing short paper, which traces the financial concerns many people with PD face, John Goodell makes a convincing case for being sensitive to the financial stress persons with Parkinson's and their families experience. Goodell is a group coordinator for the Carle Parkinson Awareness Group in Champaign-Urbana, and a champion for the Dance for Parkinson's program there. His wife lived with Parkinson's disease for 12 years. See our Members' Toolkit under the heading "Advocacy".
Summer School
UK-based Foundation for Community Dance offers its annual Summer School July 24-27, 2012 at De Montfort University in Leicester, England. The program includes courses like "Dance and age inclusive practice," "Dance, health and wellbeing," "Dance and disabled people," and "Passport to Practice: An introduction to professional practice in community dance." To find out more, call (+44) (0)116 253 3453 or click here.
Board appointment
Dance for PD program manager David Leventhal was recently elected to begin a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare. Founded in 1991, the Society is dedicated to advancing arts as integral to healthcare by demonstrating the valuable roles the arts can play in enhancing the healing process;
advocating for the integration of the arts into the environment and delivery of care within healthcare facilities; assisting in the professional development and management of arts programming for healthcare populations; providing resources and education to healthcare and arts professionals; encouraging and supporting research and investigation into the beneficial effects of the arts in healthcare.
