Shepparton will play host to world-renowned health professionals in the field of Parkinson’s and movement disorders at the sold-out event on Tuesday, November 28.
Goulburn Valley Health’s Dr Arup Bhattacharya and Niki McConnell will present the conference on behalf of GV Health, the Goulburn Valley Movement Disorder Service, the GV Health Foundation and the Darnley Montgomery Foundation.
The conference is a unique opportunity for local Parkinson’s patients and their carers to meet with the experts and ask them questions.
“We are very excited to present the conference, as it is one of a kind in the field of Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders,” Dr Bhattacharya said.
“It was held for six years, with a three-year gap due to COVID-19, so it’s great that it is operating again because there is great interest in the community.”
The conference, to be held at the GV Hotel, will feature nine talks from various health professionals.
Dr Bhattacharya said it allowed locals to hear from experts to whom they would otherwise not have access, living in regional Victoria.
“We have brought together internationally renowned experts in the field of Parkinson’s and movement disorders from all over Australia,” he said.
“This conference allows them to hear from experts but also allows them to ask them questions, which is also important.”
He said the conference covered not only medical terminology and research but also lifestyle measures.
“It’s a unique thing because normally conferences are pitched directly to health professionals or directly to patients, but this is pitched appropriately to both,” Dr Bhattacharya said.
“There’s information about non-pharmacological measures like exercise, we have a dance session, we have a diet session and how these will affect the disease journey or the symptoms for patients with Parkinson’s.”
Parkinson’s patient Christine Anderson said the conference allowed her to hear from the nation’s best without travelling to Melbourne.
“It’s vitally important that the community has the opportunity to attend these conferences because people in the country don’t get much opportunity to hear from a person or people with that knowledge.
“I find attending the conference most beneficial because you learn so much and when you’re with other people who have the same sort of thing, particularly something like Parkinson’s as it’s implied to be an invisible disability,” she said.
Tickets for the conference have sold out.
Recordings of all guest speakers will be available to view at no cost via the GV Health website at a later date.
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