The Parkinson's Exercise & Wellness Center now offers Parkinson's—Art of Expression (PARTE™) classes, which utilize the techniques of theatre to target the motor and nonmotor skills affected by Parkinson’s Disease. PARTE™ accesses the creative centers of the brain, rewires neuropathways, decreases anxiety, encourages socialization, improves mood and self-confidence, and promotes greater mobility and body control. Read more at jointheparte.com.

A 2017 study conducted by Giovanni Mirabella et. al found that a theatre-inspired therapy program could be beneficial to people with PD. Read more of their findings here.

"Recently, we have shown that active theatre, in which patients are directly involved in the representations, is a valid add-on therapeutic intervention for PD. Compared to patients undergoing physiotherapy, only PD patients performing theatre had progressive improvements in most nonmotor clinical scales (especially those tapping into the affective domains) and, to a lesser extent, in those assessing motor symptoms. In particular, patients performing theatre showed remarkable improvements in their level of depression, in their self-esteem, and in the quality of sleep."

PARTE™ was created by Stephanie Goodman (COTA) in 2019 and has grown to a fully fledged program thanks to a generous Community Grant from the Parkinson's Foundation. Stephanie is now offering limited-attendance, 16-hour training sessions on the methods of PARTE™. For information on how to attend a training, please contact her at sgoodman@thepewc.org.