The start of a new year offers the perfect opportunity to take stock and look to the future. In 2025, Parkinson’s Europe is committed to driving change for those living with Parkinson’s.
Through campaigns for improved and more personalised care to global initiatives to empower the worldwide Parkinson’s community, here are the three areas where we’d like to see change in 2025.
1. For the EU to listen to our call to action about improving Parkinson’s care in Europe
At the start of 2024, Parkinson’s Europe and AbbVie co-hosted a roundtable on the topic of care pathways for people with advanced Parkinson’s. Expert panellists from all over Europe, including movement disorder specialists, nurses, researchers, people with Parkinson’s and representatives of Parkinson’s organisations, all shared their insights around care pathways for advanced Parkinson’s. The roundtable highlighted four common areas for improvements, inspiring our Parkinson’s Europe call to action.
“The call to action is aimed at European policy makers, calling for the improvement of Parkinson’s treatment and care,” explains Francesco De Renzis, Partnership Project Manager for Parkinson’s Europe. “In 2025, we aim to use this CtA as a lobbying tool to raise awareness of these topics and push decision makers to invest more resources in supporting neurodegenerative healthcare workforces across Europe, to achieve higher standards of care for people with Parkinson’s, regardless of where they live.”
2. More real-world data to understand the bigger picture of Parkinson’s in Europe
While research into Parkinson’s is on-going, this year we want to see a more joined-up approach, using real-world data to effectively advocate for the Parkinson’s community.
Amelia Hursey, Research Manager at Parkinson’s Europe says: “We need data to give strength to any argument we make to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s. There are huge amounts of health and real-world Parkinson’s-related data in Europe, however it’s not all linked together. If we can harmonise the appropriate bits of data together, we can use that to engage with decision makers at all levels, helping them to understand why issues need to be addressed and how Parkinson’s impacts the European community.”
You can read about our Parkinson’s Engagement Network and what we’ve achieved in 2024 here.
3. Even more global collaboration to empower the Parkinson’s community across the world
If we really want to drive change, we need to do it together, At Parkinson’s Europe we recognise how crucial it is to work with the global experts and those engaged in Parkinson’s worldwide, to be able to make impactful progress. 2024 has seen some amazing initiatives relating to Parkinson’s across the globe, the most recent of which being the National Plan to End Parkinson’s in the USA.
Parkinson’s Europe Research Manager, Amelia Hursey, believes we need to keep building on this momentum: “We joined the Critical Path for Parkinson’s initiative in 2023, and from this became a member of the NeuroImpact Coalition in 2024, which is an initiative led by patient organisations across the globe. Being part of this work enables us to make sure that the voice of the European Parkinson’s community is represented and listened to. We know the needs and challenges of each Parkinson’s community in the countries of Europe are distinct and unique, therefore needing to be recognised in the new developments that are happening.”
What are your hopes for 2025? Let us know in the comments!
