Abstract
Methods of physiotherapy in general use for Parkinson patients, in so far as they have been evaluated, have been found to lack therapeutic effect. This is attributable to the use of methods developed for other conditions and inappropriate for the special needs of these patients.
Observation and analysis of Parkinson patients' movement problems led to the working hypothesis that they lack the manoeuvring of the body's centre of gravity, i.e. the whole-body movement, which normally precedes and accompanies action. A programme of therapy was developed for teaching whole-body movement and conscious strategies for overcoming obstacles to movement in daily life. Twelve Parkinson patients, in Hoehn-Yahr stages III-IV, were treated twice a week for three months. Standardized mobility tests, filmed before and after treatment, showed a statistically significant mean decrease of over 40% in total test time.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.