Canterbury therapy centre wins award for it's innovative work with Parkinson's patients

KentOnline / KMTV

The centre received the prize at the Global Health Awards 2025, where judges said that the centre had an 'exceptional commitment to engaging and supporting the Parkinson's community.'  Kristin Hawthorne reports.

Transcript

00:00Parkinson's is a disease that with its diagnosis often brings a lot of misconceptions,

00:05making it difficult to get treatments that go beyond just physical needs. But at the University

00:10of Kent in the Parkinson's Centre for Integrated Therapy, which has been open for just two years,

00:14they've been working and researching to change this, so much so that they've already gained

00:19global recognition for their work. The current support and provision for people with Parkinson's

00:24isn't really enough. People need ongoing support, not just therapies but wellbeing activities,

00:31access to social community, social opportunities to lead the richest, fullest life you can with

00:38Parkinson's. It's a cheap but really effective solution and we really think that actually

00:43looking after people with Parkinson's in this way is the way to look after people with all sorts of

00:47long-term neurological conditions, not just Parkinson's. This place now is much more than

00:52a research hub, it's not a research hub, it's a hub for therapy and wellbeing and hope.

00:58The singing really helps with maintaining the voice strong and being able to project the voice.

01:05Obviously dance is really good for that as well because it works on posture and that really helps

01:10with having a strong voice too. So I think it helps a lot with confidence and also helping people

01:18to feel more relaxed. This is just one of the facilities that they have,

01:22but they also have things like singing, dancing, a cosy room, a sleep clinic, a gym,

01:27but one of the main things that people enjoy here is the sense of community.

01:31You know one of the things was that you felt quite alone even though I've got family and that.

01:37I didn't know anyone else who got Parkinson's but one of the best things about this place is

01:42it's the social aspect of it. Everyone's very supportive. I'd probably be sitting at home,

01:50watching television, reading a book, thinking what am I going to do with the rest of my time

01:56kind of thing. Whereas this, as well as all the therapies and everything around here,

02:04it gives me a purpose. By providing community in what can be a lonely disease,

02:09members here get the chance to not only raise their voices but raise their confidence.

02:13Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Canterbury.

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