DDSIG: Bonus Episode-  CSM Platform Award: Parkinson’s Disease Rehabilitation Access and Utilization in Black and African American Chicagoland Communities – with Michelle Walaszek

In this episode, Chris interviews Michelle Walaszek, a winner of the DDSIG platform award at CSM Boston in 2024. Michelle, a PhD candidate and research associate in the Knowledge Translation of Exercise and Activity for Symptom Management (KTEAM) lab at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, explains important qualitative research that her team completed in their local Chicagoland area. She discusses themes that arose from survey data and analysis that assessed attitudes and experience with PD rehabilitation care for the Black or African American (BAA) community. Chris and Michelle also talk about some early applications of this information for clinicians, as well as next steps in the research.   The Degenerative Diseases Special Interest Group is part of the Academy of  Neurologic Physical Therapy – www.neuroPT.org