Answers for Elders: Advocacy with Parkinson’s Disease

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

And welcome back to the program. Everyone we are here with Stephanie Haslam from Compassionate Legal Care. We are thrilled to have her here for a second segment and one of the reasons why I wanted Stephanie to stay is because I’m really excited about the work that she has done on advocacy for people with Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s obviously is a big issue amongst our seniors and a lot of our listeners out there probably have a loved one that may be suffering from the disease, and so I am so glad that you’re here to talk about this cause and a little bit about how you got started. So welcome to the program, Stephanie. Thank you, Suzanne. Stephanie, tell us a little bit about your background and you know why Parkinson’s has been such a key issue in your practice. Well, my background with occupational therapy, working with seniors. Oftentimes I’d work with clients, with patients and their families we’re having diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and seeing how it impacted their life, impacted their independence, impacted their families independence and the quality of life, and so I could see from a from how it impacted them at home and impacted them in the community, and I was able to connect with the Northwest Parkinson’s foundation and see what a great difference they are making to the Parkinson’s community. That’s wonderful, really impacting the dignity of people who have Parkinson’s disease and helping to foster independence and promote well-being for both the people with Parkinson’s disease and the caregivers, while it also there’s so many breakthroughs that are happening with Parkinson’s and I know like with you know, how many years is Michael J Fox had it and he’s still able to, you know, be live a viable, powerful life, and so that tells me a lot about the breakthroughs that have been made with the disease exactly. A diagnosis Does not define a person, right. Yeah, and so I encourage people to reach out and find these organizations that can help you to stay independent and to learn the newest progress in medicine and in ways to adapt if there are difficulties and functioning. What are some ways you can adapt to functioning. What are you know, other people who are in your situation? What are they doing to help, you know, enhance their quality of life, to know that you’re not alone out there. And obviously you being occupational therapist, tell me a little bit about your experiences with working with patients with Parkinson’s. They are very across the board. People have had very slow progress of the Parkinson’s disease and sometimes it’s been very profound impact of Parkinson’s disease and what I’ve been inspired by are some of the ways that people, in the face of something that could seem very daunting and frightening has still live life and live it to the fullest and their control contribution to the community and I’m just so inspired by that. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, that I’ve seen some. They have a conference with the Northwest Parkinson’s foundation. Had One about a month and a half ago, the movement conference, and it was divided into two rooms. One Room was for caregivers, learning about how to take care of themselves and the Inter issues related to caregivers, and the other room, where I was in it was about movement and how to maintain movement and promote movement even if you have Parkinson’s, and they were teaching boxing how you could maintain movement and functions, through boxing, through town awesome, through Oh ties to you two. It’s really I understand it’s very, very, very valuable for seniors and helping them with balance in different things like that. Yeah, through, through dance, through all different forms of movement that maybe people haven’t tried before, and it was so much fun. I can imagine and I can imagine and of course you got exposed to obviously working with people with Parkinson’s in your occupational therapist role, and then that’s kind of spilled over into your legal practice. How has that been different? There’s a great big carry over. I see how people are starting to be impacted in their functioning, and so I helped them to not just to do their legal documents to preserve their autonomy in the event that they become an unable to make decisions or need support. Sure I also help direct my clients and their families to resources that will help promote independence and promote well-being for the individual with Parkinson’s and for their families. Huh. I encourage them to reach out to the Parkinson’s foundation the end getting involved in the Parkinson’s walk. There will be a Parkinson’s walk on the twenty ninth of July in Art Magnuson Park. Tell me a little bit about the Parkinson’s walk. It is a fundraising walk and we have a team at Compassionate Legal Care, our staff and myself, and we’re encouraging our clients that they like to come on a walk with us or if they some of them have loved ones that have Parkinson’s and are going to join us. And if anyone wants to look at our website, they’re welcome to do that. That’s wonderful and they are. They’re welcome to joint form their own teams or come as individuals and sign up with a northwest Parkinson’s foundation. where it does it start at Magnusa Park. How it starts at Magnison Park and the register ahead of time for the for the walk and you show up at thirty four check in and the walk starts at thirty and it says it’s a moder it’s a it’s a modest walks and anyone can do it and it’s a it’s camaraderie and it’s about empowerment and a beautiful day out and being with like money. On the twenty-ninth of July, I hope. So, yeah, yeah, and Magdison Parks Beautiful. So absolutely, absolutely, it’s one of the Nice we are talking to Stephanie Haslam from Compassionate Legal Care and before we get continue on this topic, tell us a little bit about your practice, where you’re located, a little bit about what you do. My practice is compassionate legal care and I’m a an attorney at law and counselor at law. I work with clients varying ages and the focus of my practice as estate planning, which can mean powers of attorney, trusts, all designed to memorialize your wishes during life and after death for ensuring that your loved ones are cared for. I also do guardianship work for people who have not been able to do their documents ahead of time, sure, and also do probates and along the scope of those areas of practice, I work primarily with elders and I have a specific skill set because of working in occupational theory, absolutely being able to work with people with varying degrees of cognition. Well, and I have to tell you, for all those of you that go to compassionatelegalcare.com which is your site, you have this amazing picture of a stairwell two goes all the way up and where set in France or someplace? I’m trying to remember where. You know that that’s in Galacia, in Spain. Well, you know, it’s interesting because it says you’re walking it and and now tell me just I mean, that’s obviously a thing to do coming to the Santiago. Yeah, it’s a pilgrimage walk and people walk it for different reasons and it’s a walk that starts in the south of France and it goes to the through northern Spain. Uh Huh, and people can walk it all the way to Sun. They go the Compostella and then the staircase is at the Museum of the Folk Museum for in Santiago, the Compostella. Wow. Well, it’s just beautiful, beautiful photo and it and to me it symbolizes the journey. HMM. You know, it really symbolizes and you know the fact that you’re climbing up. It’s the steps forward and of course, being a previous caregiver for my mom, I know that that you know you really are on that journey and to have somebody that is there not only for, you know, the loved ones, the older loved ones, but I love your tension to the family members, like, for example, the room that you’re talking about with Parkinson’s, the fact that you know there’s a room for caregivers to understand that the path that they are on. It’s definitely a unique, you know, thing that you’re doing. So I really appreciate that. Well, that was a Parkinson’s foundation and I really appreciate your care about caregivers as well. And it is important that caregivers care for themselves. And the big time you can’t. You can hire caregivers, but you can’t hire a new wife, first husband, or a new daughter, and I try and tell my clients that and I try and tell their family members that you can’t replace those people. I always say taking care of my mother was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, but it was also my greatest privilege and that kind of privilege is important to not forget. You know, there’s so many things that you share with that person at the end of their life and understand that. You know, if you want to call it the winter years or winter you know time it is certainly the time where, you know, it’s a time of reflection, it’s a time of really honoring The relationship that you’ve had with that loved one, to share memories, all of the things that you get to do, to have those special moments at the end, and I think that’s so important. For sure it is. And also to be in partnership, as a partner with the parent, not as taking over and is as as a support and as a partner and to recognize that your loved one’s dignity adds and to empower them where they where they’re still, where they’re capable of doing things. And oftentimes, you know, families, they lose track of that, they forget that little piece, you know, and something that we’re here to do, obviously with the radio program and with people like you, is to remind people in the community that you are partner, you’re an advocate for that individual and I know I use that word quite a bit, but it’s definitely, to me, very important part of taking care of a loved one. YEA, it is. It is and for everyone to succeed it, you know, everyone knowing their role and it can really bring a lot of peace to the situation, to the family. That’s wonderful. Name. So, Stephanie, give us the information on the walk again night. So it’s on the July twenty nine. Is that correct? That’s correct. It’s July twenty nine at Magnusin Park and people can learn about it on the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation website. Okay, yes, and we have our compassionate legal care team and there will be other teams walking as well. Okay, yes, that will be great. Well, thank you so much for sharing this information and you know, what we’d love to do, obviously, is now talk about how do people reach Stephanie. How do we reach you? Our Law Office can be reached at WWW dot compassionate legal care.com. Uh Huh, and our phone number is two thousand and six, five to five, six nine, one nine. We also do come to our homebound clients. We as a wonderful as a home health occupational therapist in my former career, I get that is it can be very difficult for some homebound clients to reach come to our office. That’s wonderful. And you guys are located in the North Care North Gate area. We are. Yes, that’s great. So you’re really easy off the freeway on your I’m assuming fairly near Northgate Mall right, just south of the mall, and we have easy parking. Perfect, perfect, Stephanie. Thank you so much for being on the program thank you so much for inviting me.