Canadian illustrator Barbara Salsberg Mathews has released two new sets of illustrations of the five stages of Parkinson’s – which stereotypically usually feature an elderly white man – and reimagined them to reflect a diverse range of women and younger men from various cultures, communities and backgrounds.
Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020, and has released these new illustrations to raise vital awareness of the fact that Parkinson’s can affect anyone: for instance, women get Parkinson’s almost as frequently as men, and 10-20% of people receive their Parkinson’s diagnosis before the age of 50, also known as Young-Onset Parkinson’s or Early-Onset Parkinson’s. These illustrations also aim to help both men and women with the condition to feel more fairly represented across the globe.
We are pleased to share these illustrations on our website, both as an important awareness-raising tool, but also as a resource for healthcare professionals to use to help women feel represented during healthcare appointments.
Please find the images below – we welcome the Parkinson’s and healthcare communities to download and use them.
How to download these images
These prints are provided free of charge, and if you can spare a donation, we’d be hugely grateful.
Instructions for how to download the images:
- Click the image you would like to download
- This will open a larger version of the image in a new tab
- Right-click on this larger image, and select “Save Image As…“
- Press “Save” to download the image as a JPEG file
You can then print a physical copy, if you like, or send the file to a printing house to create a proper print.
The 5 stages of Parkinson’s, represented by a diverse range of women
The six new illustrations feature young women from a range of communities, including a blonde caucasian woman, a woman from an indigenous community, and a woman wearing a hijab. To help viewers focus on the physical changes that can happen in the different stages of Parkinson’s progression, Barbara illustrated one body shape wearing the same colour of clothing.
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The 5 stages of Parkinson’s, represented by a diverse range of younger men
These six new images were released on International Men’s Day 2025 to raise awareness of the fact that Parkinson’s affects men of all ages and backgrounds. The illustrations feature a range of men of different ethnicities, and also includes illustrations based on real-life men in the public eye who are living with Parkinson’s: actor and activist Michael J Fox (who has helped to raise over $2.5billion thanks to the Michael J Fox Foundation), boxer Mohammed Ali (who signed our Parkinson’s Charter back in 1997 for the first World Parkinson’s Day), and fitness influencer and American Ninja Warrior star Jimmy Choi.
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Print B
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You can also download Barbara’s illustrated book What Parkinson’s Feels Like here: Download “What Parkinson’s Feels Like”
Find out more about Barbara Salsberg Mathews on her website and Mime Over Mind