body image and social engagement

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Honours student Eve (left) is examining the relationship between body image, self esteem, and social engagement in Parkinson's

If you have a diagnosis of Parkinson's and live in Australia you can  take part in this study.

You will be asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire that asks you about how you feel about your body, your self esteem, and your social engagement. The questionnaire will take about 30 minutes to complete and you can do it using a personal computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. 

If you would like to take part now, click on the 'TAKE PART' blue button below. 

For more information about this study, please email Eve  at  eve.morecroft@student.curtin.edu.au   

You can also email Andrea at andrea.loftus@curtin.edu.au and she will forward your message to Eve

PhD student Amy (left) is examining the relationship between a blood-based protein named Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and the different symptoms of Parkinson's.

If you have a diagnosis of Parkinson's and have not had deep brain stimulation (DBS), you can potentially take part in this study.

You will be asked to complete 2 separate testing sessions. 

For session 1, you will be asked to attend Curtin University to provide a blood sample. 

For session 2,  you will be asked to complete a test of your cognitive (thinking) and motor (movement) symptoms. Session 2 can be completed at the university or in your own home. 

For more information about this study, please email Amy at  amy.tiberio@curtin.edu.au or call Amy on 0461 268 083.  

You can also email Andrea at andrea.loftus@curtin.edu.au and she will forward your message to Amy. 

Research shows that people with Parkinson’s  can improve their cognitive functioning (thinking skills) using both cognitive training and non-invasive brain stimulation.  A recent study by ParkC shows that the largest improvements occur when we pair cognitive training with non-invasive brain stimulation, so that they are being delivered simultaneously. 

The human brain is made up of billions of neurons that talk to one another using chemical and electrical signals. All our actions and thoughts are dependent upon the firing of these neurons. Non-invasive brain stimulation is the application of weak electrical currents (1-2 mA) to change the electrical activity of neurons. When electrodes are placed on the scalp, the electrical change produced in the brain is exceedingly small, changing neuron excitability by only a fraction of a millivolt.  ParkC researchers Blake Lawrence, Natalie Gasson, Andrew Johnson, Leon Booth, and Andrea Loftus (2018) published a study reporting that placing the positive electrode on the frontal lobe led to improved thinking skills in those with Parkinson's. The use of non-invasive brain stimulation has not been associated with any adverse outcomes and is considered painless and safe. 

Cognitive training is sometimes called 'brain training' and involves completing tasks that target memory, attention, planning skills, and spatial skills. In this study, you will complete some computerised tasks while you are receiving brain stimulation.

This study is quite a commitment, but we are hoping you will enjoy your participation and understand that these kinds of intervention studies take time. 

This study will involve completing 11 separate sessions.

Session 1 (week 1) will require you to complete some paper/pencil tasks and computer-based tasks that assess your memory and thinking skills (cognition). You do not need previous experience using computers and the researcher will provide verbal instructions before each task. You will then complete a short assessment of your motor symptoms, which will require you to perform a series of movements with the researcher (finger tapping, foot tapping). Session 1 will take approximately 1.5 - 2 hours to complete; however, you will be offered regular breaks. This session can be completed in your home or at Curtin University.

Sessions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 will require you to attend the university twice per week to complete the intervention. Sessions 2 and 3 will be week in 1, 4 and 5 in week 2, 6 and 7 in week 3, and sessions 8 and 9 will be in week four. 

Session 10 will be the same as session 1, where we ask you to complete some tasks assessing your memory and thinking skills and some tests of your movement symptoms. 

Session 11 will occur 12 weeks after session 10 and will be the same as session 10. 

To find out more about this study, please email  Kara at Kara.simpson@curtin.edu.au or you can contact Andrea at andrea.loftus@curtin.edu.

Emma, Lisa, and Boadi are Speech Pathology Honours students who are investigating how people with Parkinson’s feel about their communication with their health professionals (for example, Neurologists, Parkinson’s Specialist Nurses, GPs etc.) and the kind of challenges they experience. By hearing your perspective, we hope to understand how health professionals can improve the way they communicate with people with Parkinson’s.

We invite people with Parkinson’s who have communication difficulties and their support person (for example, family member, carer, friend) to take part in this research.

You will be asked to do 3 things:

1. Complete a 15 minute phone interview

2. Provide background information about your Parkinson’s

3. Take part in a 60 minute interview (in-person or online) where you will be asked to share your experiences of communicating with healthcare professionals, including any challenges or successes.

For more information about this study, please email Naomi at naomi.cocks@curtin.edu.au or phone her on 08 9266 2466.

Dr Naomi Cocks is a Speech Pathologist interested in improving communication for people with Parkinson's and their family, friends, and others. Naomi has designed a website called "To Hear and Be Heard" to help people with Parkinson’s and the people they are close to have more effective conversations. Before launching this website, Naomi needs feedback from the very people who will (hopefully) be using it. 

This study evaluates the new website "To Hear and Be Heard".

We need both people with a diagnosis of Parkinson's and someone who communicates with that person (friend, family member, support worker, carer) to take part. You do not need to have any special knowledge about speech pathology or website design to evaluate this website. Your own experiences with Parkinson’s is what is important to us. 

You will be asked to do 2 things:

1. Spend 10-20 minutes using the website
2. Spend 15 minutes filling out a questionnaire about your experience of the website

For more information about this study, please email Naomi at naomi.cocks@curtin.edu.au or phone her on 08 9266 2466. 

PhD student Ramishka (right) is designing a therapy to improve communication for the person with Parkinson's and their communication partner. Current therapies for those with communication difficulties  focus on addressing  motor speech difficulty. Whilst this is important, this is not the only barrier to effective conversations between a person with Parkinson's and their communication partner. 

We need people with Parkinson's and a family member, friend, or carer to take part in this study. 

You will be asked to take part in one focus group lasting 1.5 hours.  

A focus group is a group interview of approximately six to twelve people who share similar characteristics, in this case communication difficulties associated with Parkinson's. A facilitator (in this case, Ramishka) guides the group based on a topic of interest. The facilitator creates an environment that encourages participants to share their perceptions and points of view. 

To find out more about this study, please email Ramishka at ramishka.thilakaratne@postgrad.curtin.edu.au 

or telephone her on 0424 337 557. 

Phil (right) is completing his PhD at York University in the UK and works as a Physiotherapist in the National Health Service. Phil has developed an online survey to examine the link between the physical symptoms of Parkinson's and the psychological symptoms. 

We need both people with a Parkinson's diagnosis and people who care for someone with Parkinson's. 

You will be asked to complete an online survey that asks you about your experiences of physical and psychological symptoms of Parkinson's. The survey consists of 37 questions and is mainly multiple choice. 

To find out more about this study, please email Phil at philip.hodgson@yorksj.ac.uk

To complete the survey, please use the link below or click on the TAKE PART blue button 

https://yorksj.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ngNPar4Ys04bjg