Profile
Group members:
Vernon Yim
Donovan Wong
Jeremy Lee
Neo Yu Pei
Hwa Chong Institution
Archives
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
Links
Tagboard
Monday, July 20, 2009
Having just visited the Peranakan musuem with the Parkinson patients, I have learnt a lot both from the trip and also from the patients. The outing was a unique and memorable experience for us, as it was our first time coming into direct interaction with the patients, and our first actual outing with the members of the society. We also hoped that through this outing, we would get to know more members of the society, better able to understand the patients, understand their needs and concerns, as well as to observe on how outings are carried out so that we could organise an outing ourselves for them too in the future.
At the museum, we continued with the distribution of water bottles to the other people from the other buses. Many of them smiled to us when we gave them the bottles, which made us feel happier, more relaxed and less nervous. We helped to give directions to where they were to head to, hold the lift, mostly assisting the caregivers and support group wherever we could. The four of us were split according to the two groups on the tour around the museum. Donovan and Vernon went together, while Yu Pei and I were together. In my group, I remember helping Mr Koh, holding his arm as we went about, and brought him to the gents halfway through, it was actually my first time doing so, i do not get the chance to help the elderly even in my own family. There was a lady from the support group from TTSH, she was busy taking papers and getting stamps from many machines in various parts of the museum. She was actually helping to get stamps and prints of some Peranakan symbols and pictures for the patients. I thought that she was really being very nice and caring towards the patients.
After about 2 hours at the museum, we headed for lunch at The Legends in Fort Canning. It was a really nice place, it looked very grand to me haha. There we had buffet for lunch. We also got the chance to help in some ways such as taking food for a few patients, serving them food from the trays, carry plates to their seats, pouring drinks and so on. Four of us sat with about 5 nurses from the support group from TTSH. They were asking us questions like why we were here, what our purpose was, what our project was about etc. They were very nice to us when we were talking, one of them, if im not wrong she is a sister, she even helped us get fruits haha. After having lunch, we conducted an interview with the Vice President of the Parkinson's Disease Society and his wife. He is a patient of PD as well, and he shared with us his views about the disease, how he lead his life, his goals for the society and what he hopes for the other patients.
There was a talk given by a doctor after the lunch as well. Outside the room, there was a piano. One of the patients played the piano. He was very good at playing the piano, however, as the piano was only for display, he was not able to continue playing. We saw that he was actually very capable and talented in music, and he has a strong passion for music, despite the diffculties he faces from the restricted movements. There was also the prize giving ceremony for the outstanding works of the patients. There was an elderly lady who had made a chinese word "xi" using strings of pink beads.
Al in all, it was an enjoyable and enriching day for us. We got know quite a few patients and caregivers and support group members during the outing. We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Julie for giving us the opportunity to take part in their outing, as well as the nurses from TTSH who were especially friendly and warm towards us during the outing. Below are some pictures we had taken during the outing. Enjoy viewing!
Jeremy
We came for the outing, feeling quite excited and a little nervous, because it was our first time meeting and interacting with the patients, we did not know how they would react to our presence for we are just students. When we got to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, we were quite shocked, with the number of people who had turned up for the outing. We were also actually trying to apply we had learnt previously about the characteristics in trying to identify some PD patients. We managed to spot some, however, there were many others whom we were not able to tell apart. Our first task assigned to us was to help the elderlies board the bus. Next we took the boxes of water bottles up the bus to distribute them.
At the museum, we continued with the distribution of water bottles to the other people from the other buses. Many of them smiled to us when we gave them the bottles, which made us feel happier, more relaxed and less nervous. We helped to give directions to where they were to head to, hold the lift, mostly assisting the caregivers and support group wherever we could. The four of us were split according to the two groups on the tour around the museum. Donovan and Vernon went together, while Yu Pei and I were together. In my group, I remember helping Mr Koh, holding his arm as we went about, and brought him to the gents halfway through, it was actually my first time doing so, i do not get the chance to help the elderly even in my own family. There was a lady from the support group from TTSH, she was busy taking papers and getting stamps from many machines in various parts of the museum. She was actually helping to get stamps and prints of some Peranakan symbols and pictures for the patients. I thought that she was really being very nice and caring towards the patients.
After about 2 hours at the museum, we headed for lunch at The Legends in Fort Canning. It was a really nice place, it looked very grand to me haha. There we had buffet for lunch. We also got the chance to help in some ways such as taking food for a few patients, serving them food from the trays, carry plates to their seats, pouring drinks and so on. Four of us sat with about 5 nurses from the support group from TTSH. They were asking us questions like why we were here, what our purpose was, what our project was about etc. They were very nice to us when we were talking, one of them, if im not wrong she is a sister, she even helped us get fruits haha. After having lunch, we conducted an interview with the Vice President of the Parkinson's Disease Society and his wife. He is a patient of PD as well, and he shared with us his views about the disease, how he lead his life, his goals for the society and what he hopes for the other patients.
There was a talk given by a doctor after the lunch as well. Outside the room, there was a piano. One of the patients played the piano. He was very good at playing the piano, however, as the piano was only for display, he was not able to continue playing. We saw that he was actually very capable and talented in music, and he has a strong passion for music, despite the diffculties he faces from the restricted movements. There was also the prize giving ceremony for the outstanding works of the patients. There was an elderly lady who had made a chinese word "xi" using strings of pink beads.
Al in all, it was an enjoyable and enriching day for us. We got know quite a few patients and caregivers and support group members during the outing. We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Julie for giving us the opportunity to take part in their outing, as well as the nurses from TTSH who were especially friendly and warm towards us during the outing. Below are some pictures we had taken during the outing. Enjoy viewing!
Jeremy
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Online Survey Results
Physical Survey Results
Physical Survey Results
Monday, July 13, 2009
Awareness of Parkinson's Disease in the school 2
Following up with the first phase of our project, we wanted to find out about the level of awareness that the school community had of Parkinson's disease and produce a video to debunk all their misconceptions. Our idea was to do an interview with teachers and students to test their knowledge about Parkinson's, and the questions include "Which age group does Parkinson's Disease affect?" "Is Parkinson's Disease treatable" and "Name some symptoms of a person suffering from Parkinson's Disease".
Most of them thought that Parkinson's Disease is an old-age disease and so would not affect them, but they are terribly wrong. Parkinson's Disease can be contracted by people of all age-groups, so knowledge of this disease and where to seek assistance should be made known to everyone.
From the interview, we found out that biology teachers are generally more knowledgeable about the topic as it is their field of expert, but students that do not know of anyone that suffers from the disease actually have very limited knowledge about it.
The making of this video is very meaningful as hearing the responses from our schoolmates that used to be also what I thought really made me realised how much I have learnt about the disease since I embarked on this project. The misconceptions that people have about Parkinson's Disease made me see the importance of equipping everyone with the basic knowledge about the disease, so that they will be able to empathise with Parkinson's Disease patients and also know how they can help them.
None of our interviewees managed to name the organisation in Singapore that helps Parkinson's Disease patients, which highlights one of our main objective in promoting the Parkinson's Disease Society of Singapore to the public. The video is only the first step of our project to debunk misconceptions about Parkinson's Disease. We will continue to provide more information about the disease, activities organised and also updates of the society, so do check back often.
Vernon
Following up with the first phase of our project, we wanted to find out about the level of awareness that the school community had of Parkinson's disease and produce a video to debunk all their misconceptions. Our idea was to do an interview with teachers and students to test their knowledge about Parkinson's, and the questions include "Which age group does Parkinson's Disease affect?" "Is Parkinson's Disease treatable" and "Name some symptoms of a person suffering from Parkinson's Disease".
Most of them thought that Parkinson's Disease is an old-age disease and so would not affect them, but they are terribly wrong. Parkinson's Disease can be contracted by people of all age-groups, so knowledge of this disease and where to seek assistance should be made known to everyone.
From the interview, we found out that biology teachers are generally more knowledgeable about the topic as it is their field of expert, but students that do not know of anyone that suffers from the disease actually have very limited knowledge about it.
The making of this video is very meaningful as hearing the responses from our schoolmates that used to be also what I thought really made me realised how much I have learnt about the disease since I embarked on this project. The misconceptions that people have about Parkinson's Disease made me see the importance of equipping everyone with the basic knowledge about the disease, so that they will be able to empathise with Parkinson's Disease patients and also know how they can help them.
None of our interviewees managed to name the organisation in Singapore that helps Parkinson's Disease patients, which highlights one of our main objective in promoting the Parkinson's Disease Society of Singapore to the public. The video is only the first step of our project to debunk misconceptions about Parkinson's Disease. We will continue to provide more information about the disease, activities organised and also updates of the society, so do check back often.
Vernon
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Survey at Dhoby Ghaut
Yu Pei
Spot where we did our suvey
Donovan approaching someone to complete a survey form
Yesterday morning, we met up at Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station so that we could do our survey. The questions of the survey were created by Jeremy and I printed out many copies of the survey forms the night before. The purpose of the survey is to determine how much the general public of Singapore understands about Parkinson’s disease and there were questions like ‘Can Parkinson’s disease be inherited?’ After wandering around the place outside the MRT station for a short while, we found a suitable spot for us to conduct our survey as it is filled with by-passers and crowds who were there to look at mobile phone exhibitions for Filipinos.
When we started to go about conducting the survey, we were rather apprehensive and reluctant to approach strangers due to obvious reasons. However, Vernon managed to pluck up his courage and did a demonstration for us, and after that we were a lot more easygoing about approaching strangers. Each of the 4 of us got a handful of people to help us to complete the survey forms. Luckily for me, many of the people I approached were willing to complete a form. Together, the 4 of us managed to get nearly 100 forms done within about 3 hours.
Besides doing our part for the project itself, we also gained invaluable experience in that Saturday and it is also my first time approaching strangers for a survey. Although we got a satisfactory number of survey forms done, we could have done it in an even shorter period if not for the period of hesitance in the beginning. The results of the surveys will be posted up soon.
Yu Pei
Spot where we did our suvey
Donovan approaching someone to complete a survey form
___________________________
Physical and Online Survey
For our physical survey, we went to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station to conduct the survey. Our aim was to get 100 surveys completed. Initally, it was really tough as we were quite reserved and afraid to approach strangers, and we also met people who did not wish to participate in our survey. It was quite disappointing, however we also knew that we had to be thick-skinned in a way and go all out. That is what our task requires of us. If we were to remain that timid, we will never be able to do the survey well.
We then went to the busiest places where the human traffic flow was the greatest, particularly because that day was a weekend and it was during lunch hour. We were successful in the first few rounds. It was a boost to our morale. We felt more confident and more assured. We split up into teams of two, each team going to various ends of the location. Vernon and I were surveying people nearer the entrance of the MRT and the bus stop. I actually felt quite awkward when people start staring at us, and some even asked us for our schools as though they did not believe we were students doing our project. Some more difficulties we encountered were that people were rushing to get to their destination, either they were boarding the bus, or for those who got off the bus, they were heading for elsewhere. We had to convince them that it would not take long and that it was okay if they did not know about the disease. I guess they were probably shy and hoping that they need not take the survey. Fortunately, after about two hours, we were able to complete our share of the survey, however slightly short of our target of 100.
The online survey was done through surveymoneky.com. It was designed as a simple eight multiple choice question which would not require a long time to be completed. We were constantly messaging our MSN contacts, as well as indicating the url of the survey as our personal message so that our friends and relatives were able to help us with our survey. In all, we had about 93 participants for our online survey
Jeremy
For our physical survey, we went to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station to conduct the survey. Our aim was to get 100 surveys completed. Initally, it was really tough as we were quite reserved and afraid to approach strangers, and we also met people who did not wish to participate in our survey. It was quite disappointing, however we also knew that we had to be thick-skinned in a way and go all out. That is what our task requires of us. If we were to remain that timid, we will never be able to do the survey well.
We then went to the busiest places where the human traffic flow was the greatest, particularly because that day was a weekend and it was during lunch hour. We were successful in the first few rounds. It was a boost to our morale. We felt more confident and more assured. We split up into teams of two, each team going to various ends of the location. Vernon and I were surveying people nearer the entrance of the MRT and the bus stop. I actually felt quite awkward when people start staring at us, and some even asked us for our schools as though they did not believe we were students doing our project. Some more difficulties we encountered were that people were rushing to get to their destination, either they were boarding the bus, or for those who got off the bus, they were heading for elsewhere. We had to convince them that it would not take long and that it was okay if they did not know about the disease. I guess they were probably shy and hoping that they need not take the survey. Fortunately, after about two hours, we were able to complete our share of the survey, however slightly short of our target of 100.
The online survey was done through surveymoneky.com. It was designed as a simple eight multiple choice question which would not require a long time to be completed. We were constantly messaging our MSN contacts, as well as indicating the url of the survey as our personal message so that our friends and relatives were able to help us with our survey. In all, we had about 93 participants for our online survey
Jeremy
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Awareness of Parkinson's Disease in the school 1
As planned, we brought down 8 bannerettes from the Society to be used as our display at the Kong Chian Library. During that week, we also gave out some fliers that contain general information about Parkinson’s Disease. Our main aim for the exhibition was to raise awareness in the school community about Parkinson’s Disease, which also took place in conjunction with World Parkinson Day. In prior to this, we had also posted up 2 messages on the SMB with the help of Ms Lin to inform students about this. Sadly, the turn-up rate was not very good. Although the traffic flow in the library was rather high, few stopped to take a look at the bannerettes. 
Our second plan was to arrange the President of the Society to come down to various schools for a talk to educate students on Parkinson’s Disease. This is because we feel that there are too little avenues for people to learn about this condition. Unfortunately, we were faced with several difficulties which made us abandon this initial plan. Firstly, many schools had already planned their assemblies at the beginning of the year and due to the tightly packed schedule, little or no time could be provided for Julie to make her presentation. Secondly, the topic does not really fit into the schools PCME framework and therefore unnecessary. Thirdly, no one had expected the outbreak of H1N1, which caused many schools to remove assembly periods from their students’ timetables.
Looking back, I feel that more could have been done to encourage students to find out more about Parkinson’s Disease during our exhibition. Maybe we could have provided Ace opportunities for students to write a report on the exhibition, so while we attract more to visit the exhibition and gain Ace, students benefit from the chance to learn more about Parkinson’s Disease at the same time.
-- Donovan
_______________
School Exhibition
This exhibition was held in our school library. It was the first activity which we were holding so we had our first taste of planning and working with the society. The planning process included choosing the right location for the exhibition, retrieving the banners, maintaining the booth, and making sure that people view the exhibition.
The selection of the location was based on the area which had the largest human traffic flow, and somewhere people would stop by and take a look instead of walking past hurriedly. The library’s central open area linking to the tower-block classrooms, to the second level, and both the entrance and exit was the ideal location for our exhibition. However we also need to make sure that it does not come into obstruction.
In addition, we also had to be in contact with a doctor from Tan Tock Seng Hospital in order to be able to borrow the banners that belong to him for a week for our exhibition. Another challenge which we faced was the maintenance of the booth. We had a video screening going on at the same time at one booth. The video was for educational purposes such as the causes of PD, the various treatments available, the kind of exercises and therapies that could help ease the symptoms and so on. However, we needed to ensure that the laptop which we used to play the videos would have to be securely fastened so that others were not able to fiddle with it or to take it away. The videos also had to be kept running so that it does not repeat. It was difficult to coordinate amongst ourselves as we had similar lunch times and breaks. The problem was, how then could we take turns to check on the booth, and which time slots are best for people to come to view the exhibition. We had placed pamphlets and papers placed at the booth for others to give their feedback and comments.
Jeremy
As planned, we brought down 8 bannerettes from the Society to be used as our display at the Kong Chian Library. During that week, we also gave out some fliers that contain general information about Parkinson’s Disease. Our main aim for the exhibition was to raise awareness in the school community about Parkinson’s Disease, which also took place in conjunction with World Parkinson Day. In prior to this, we had also posted up 2 messages on the SMB with the help of Ms Lin to inform students about this. Sadly, the turn-up rate was not very good. Although the traffic flow in the library was rather high, few stopped to take a look at the bannerettes.
Our second plan was to arrange the President of the Society to come down to various schools for a talk to educate students on Parkinson’s Disease. This is because we feel that there are too little avenues for people to learn about this condition. Unfortunately, we were faced with several difficulties which made us abandon this initial plan. Firstly, many schools had already planned their assemblies at the beginning of the year and due to the tightly packed schedule, little or no time could be provided for Julie to make her presentation. Secondly, the topic does not really fit into the schools PCME framework and therefore unnecessary. Thirdly, no one had expected the outbreak of H1N1, which caused many schools to remove assembly periods from their students’ timetables.
Looking back, I feel that more could have been done to encourage students to find out more about Parkinson’s Disease during our exhibition. Maybe we could have provided Ace opportunities for students to write a report on the exhibition, so while we attract more to visit the exhibition and gain Ace, students benefit from the chance to learn more about Parkinson’s Disease at the same time.
-- Donovan
_______________
School Exhibition
This exhibition was held in our school library. It was the first activity which we were holding so we had our first taste of planning and working with the society. The planning process included choosing the right location for the exhibition, retrieving the banners, maintaining the booth, and making sure that people view the exhibition.
The selection of the location was based on the area which had the largest human traffic flow, and somewhere people would stop by and take a look instead of walking past hurriedly. The library’s central open area linking to the tower-block classrooms, to the second level, and both the entrance and exit was the ideal location for our exhibition. However we also need to make sure that it does not come into obstruction.
In addition, we also had to be in contact with a doctor from Tan Tock Seng Hospital in order to be able to borrow the banners that belong to him for a week for our exhibition. Another challenge which we faced was the maintenance of the booth. We had a video screening going on at the same time at one booth. The video was for educational purposes such as the causes of PD, the various treatments available, the kind of exercises and therapies that could help ease the symptoms and so on. However, we needed to ensure that the laptop which we used to play the videos would have to be securely fastened so that others were not able to fiddle with it or to take it away. The videos also had to be kept running so that it does not repeat. It was difficult to coordinate amongst ourselves as we had similar lunch times and breaks. The problem was, how then could we take turns to check on the booth, and which time slots are best for people to come to view the exhibition. We had placed pamphlets and papers placed at the booth for others to give their feedback and comments.
Jeremy
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Reflections for meeting 2
We met up with Julie at the organization in the morning. We had planned to discuss details about Julie’s talk in conjunction with World Parkinson’s Day at our school as well as to take a look at the mobile display the center had.
At the same time, our group had the opportunity to observe one of the activities the center was organizing for some of their patients. That day happened to be the patients’ third line dancing session, and so we sat at the back to watch while they practiced. We were amazed at how well they danced despite their mobility and balancing problems. For these patients, movement is very difficult for them. If they got too tensed up, their might even find themselves unable to move. That is why before any activity, these patients are required to do a warm-up routine to calm their mind and relax their body. These forms of activities aim to build up the patients’ confidence while exercising their body.
We were inspired by the volunteer who was very passionate in teaching the patients the dance steps. She was also very encouraging and patient, whenever a patient seemed lost, she would take the initiative to help them. The satisfactory look on her face told me she was happy that her efforts paid off. Looking at these patients enjoying themselves, it really made us respect the patient’s strong determination to live. Despite being stricken with an incurable disease, these patients remain optimistic and cheerful. How many people are able to pick themselves of from such difficulties?
For the rest of the morning, we discussed mainly about the exhibition that we were holding at Kong Chian Library - the arrangement of the mobile display, playing of the medical videos and also the possibility of having a talk at our school. Julie shared with us the powerpoint presentation about Parkinson Disease that she had prepared, and from there we got to know alot more of the disease.
-- Donovan
We met up with Julie at the organization in the morning. We had planned to discuss details about Julie’s talk in conjunction with World Parkinson’s Day at our school as well as to take a look at the mobile display the center had.
At the same time, our group had the opportunity to observe one of the activities the center was organizing for some of their patients. That day happened to be the patients’ third line dancing session, and so we sat at the back to watch while they practiced. We were amazed at how well they danced despite their mobility and balancing problems. For these patients, movement is very difficult for them. If they got too tensed up, their might even find themselves unable to move. That is why before any activity, these patients are required to do a warm-up routine to calm their mind and relax their body. These forms of activities aim to build up the patients’ confidence while exercising their body.
We were inspired by the volunteer who was very passionate in teaching the patients the dance steps. She was also very encouraging and patient, whenever a patient seemed lost, she would take the initiative to help them. The satisfactory look on her face told me she was happy that her efforts paid off. Looking at these patients enjoying themselves, it really made us respect the patient’s strong determination to live. Despite being stricken with an incurable disease, these patients remain optimistic and cheerful. How many people are able to pick themselves of from such difficulties?
For the rest of the morning, we discussed mainly about the exhibition that we were holding at Kong Chian Library - the arrangement of the mobile display, playing of the medical videos and also the possibility of having a talk at our school. Julie shared with us the powerpoint presentation about Parkinson Disease that she had prepared, and from there we got to know alot more of the disease.
-- Donovan
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Reflections for meeting 1
We met up with Julie at the organization in the afternoon. Other than discussing about the details of our project, we get to know more about the organization and also the Parkinson Disease.
From what we know from Julie, the organization do not have a centre for their activities to be carried out and this is very inconvenient for them as they have to look for voluntary organizations who are willing to lend them their places for use. This is also due to the insufficient funds in the organization. Thus, Julie also hope that fund raising activities can be help to raise funds for the organization. We also knew that such activities had been done before and they were successful.
Other than talking about our plans, we have also learned more about the disease, not just simply a “hand-shaking” disease. Parkinson disease is not as simple as what we always think. They have to overcome their fear to face the society and this is not an effortless task at all. We get to know more about the signs and symptoms of Parkinson disease, various problems that the patients face and the general situation of the patients through Julie. It was something more than doing research through Internet on our own as we were able to gain more first-hand knowledge and information from her experience and physical contact with the patients.
Parkinson Disease is no longer an old age disease. More and more young people are getting this disease, including teenagers like you and me, although the chances of older people getting this disease are relatively higher. In recent society, I believe that many people lack knowledge of the disease. This is why we have to educate the public. Through the exhibition and talks done by Julie, more people will be able to know about the disease and the Parkinson’s Disease Society of Singapore (PDSS). 一传十, 十传百. Even if there are only a small number of people concerned about Parkinson’s Disease, they will spread the message of the importance to be conscious of Parkinson’s Disease across and the people who receive the message will pass it on as well. In this case, the number of people who knows about the disease will increase, thus raising the awareness of the public regarding the disease. As we know, the patients face a lot of difficulties overcoming their fear of going out, so we have to think of ways to help the patients to resolve this problem. What they are afraid of is the views of the public. When more people get to know and understand the disease, there will be more people who are willing to help out, lending a helping hand to the patients. We also hope that more volunteers will join the organization to help out.
__________
Meeting One
This was our first visit to the society. We met the president of the Parkinson’s Disease Society of Singapore, Ms Julie Lau. She was very inspiring to me. She gave me the impression that she genuinely cared for the patients and that she devotes much of her time to the society.
During our meeting, Julie talked to us about the disease, and I realized that it is not just that the hands shake uncontrollably, it can be temporary inability to move one’s limbs, or slurred speech, hunch-backed. The disease is caused by the lack of production of dopamine in the brain. I was also unable to understand why people suffering from Parkinson’s disease are more hot-tempered than usual. Julie explained that it was due to their immense frustration when they are not able to carry out their motions as they wished to. We also got to understand the plight of these patients, such as their worry of going out in public places for fear that their symptoms could come up anytime they least expect.
We were then invited to watch an exercise that was being conducted. There was this elderly man who was unable to stand up straight. His back was really hunched and he had great difficulty moving his limbs. He was sitting on a chair most of the time. Julie pointed out to us that he was actually sitting on the edge of the chair, and that is why many PD patients fall easily from their chairs. Julie also told us that he was considered lucky because he had two domestic helpers beside him. They were able to bring him to the society and to help him with his movements. Other patients find it difficult and strenuous to get to the centre itself, let alone the fear of not being able to move. We also met an elderly lady who used to be a marathon runner, but she now walks with a slight hunch. However Julie told us that she is very determined not to let the disease control her life. She still runs occasionally.
Jeremy
We met up with Julie at the organization in the afternoon. Other than discussing about the details of our project, we get to know more about the organization and also the Parkinson Disease.
From what we know from Julie, the organization do not have a centre for their activities to be carried out and this is very inconvenient for them as they have to look for voluntary organizations who are willing to lend them their places for use. This is also due to the insufficient funds in the organization. Thus, Julie also hope that fund raising activities can be help to raise funds for the organization. We also knew that such activities had been done before and they were successful.
Other than talking about our plans, we have also learned more about the disease, not just simply a “hand-shaking” disease. Parkinson disease is not as simple as what we always think. They have to overcome their fear to face the society and this is not an effortless task at all. We get to know more about the signs and symptoms of Parkinson disease, various problems that the patients face and the general situation of the patients through Julie. It was something more than doing research through Internet on our own as we were able to gain more first-hand knowledge and information from her experience and physical contact with the patients.
Parkinson Disease is no longer an old age disease. More and more young people are getting this disease, including teenagers like you and me, although the chances of older people getting this disease are relatively higher. In recent society, I believe that many people lack knowledge of the disease. This is why we have to educate the public. Through the exhibition and talks done by Julie, more people will be able to know about the disease and the Parkinson’s Disease Society of Singapore (PDSS). 一传十, 十传百. Even if there are only a small number of people concerned about Parkinson’s Disease, they will spread the message of the importance to be conscious of Parkinson’s Disease across and the people who receive the message will pass it on as well. In this case, the number of people who knows about the disease will increase, thus raising the awareness of the public regarding the disease. As we know, the patients face a lot of difficulties overcoming their fear of going out, so we have to think of ways to help the patients to resolve this problem. What they are afraid of is the views of the public. When more people get to know and understand the disease, there will be more people who are willing to help out, lending a helping hand to the patients. We also hope that more volunteers will join the organization to help out.
__________
Meeting One
This was our first visit to the society. We met the president of the Parkinson’s Disease Society of Singapore, Ms Julie Lau. She was very inspiring to me. She gave me the impression that she genuinely cared for the patients and that she devotes much of her time to the society.
During our meeting, Julie talked to us about the disease, and I realized that it is not just that the hands shake uncontrollably, it can be temporary inability to move one’s limbs, or slurred speech, hunch-backed. The disease is caused by the lack of production of dopamine in the brain. I was also unable to understand why people suffering from Parkinson’s disease are more hot-tempered than usual. Julie explained that it was due to their immense frustration when they are not able to carry out their motions as they wished to. We also got to understand the plight of these patients, such as their worry of going out in public places for fear that their symptoms could come up anytime they least expect.
We were then invited to watch an exercise that was being conducted. There was this elderly man who was unable to stand up straight. His back was really hunched and he had great difficulty moving his limbs. He was sitting on a chair most of the time. Julie pointed out to us that he was actually sitting on the edge of the chair, and that is why many PD patients fall easily from their chairs. Julie also told us that he was considered lucky because he had two domestic helpers beside him. They were able to bring him to the society and to help him with his movements. Other patients find it difficult and strenuous to get to the centre itself, let alone the fear of not being able to move. We also met an elderly lady who used to be a marathon runner, but she now walks with a slight hunch. However Julie told us that she is very determined not to let the disease control her life. She still runs occasionally.
Jeremy