Improving Conversations about Parkinson's Dementia

Background: People with Parkinson's disease (PD) have an increased risk of dementia, yet patients and clinicians frequently avoid talking about it due to associated stigma, and the perception that “nothing can be done about it”. However, open conversations about PD dementia may allow people with the condition to access treatment and support, and may increase participation in research aimed at understanding PD dementia. Objectives: To co‐produce information resources for patients and healthcare professionals to improve conversations about PD dementia. Methods: We worked with people with PD, engagement experts, artists, and a PD charity to open up these conversations. 34 participants (16 PD; 6 PD dementia; 1 Parkinsonism, 11 caregivers) attended creative workshops to examine fears about PD dementia and develop information resources. 25 PD experts contributed to the resources. Results: While most people with PD (70%) and caregivers (81%) shared worries about cognitive changes prior to the workshops, only 38% and 30%, respectively, had raised these concerns with a healthcare professional. 91% of people with PD and 73% of caregivers agreed that PD clinicians should ask about cognitive changes routinely through direct questions and perform cognitive tests at clinic appointments. We used insights from the creative workshops, and input from a network of PD experts to co‐develop two open‐access resources: one for people with PD and their families, and one for healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Using artistic and creative workshops, co‐learning and striving for diverse voices, we co‐produced relevant resources for a wider audience to improve conversations about PD dementia

La fermeture du cimetière des Innocents

Owen and Caroline Hannaway : The closure of the cemetery of the innocents. The closure, and subsequent exhumation, of the Cemetery of the Innocents represents one of the major triumphs of enlightened public hygiene in the last years of the Ancien Regime. Evidence for the decision was based on the medical theory of the epidemic constitution with its two components, the poisonous miasma emanating from the ground and the hypothesis of a specific atmospheric constitution. There was no improvement in the understanding of the nature and pathological effects of the putrefying emanations from underground, but progress was made towards a fuller understanding of the constitution of the atmosphere. Quantitative precision in determining the chemical components and quality of the air, particularly by means of the eudiometer, played a major role in the decision.Hannaway Owen, Hannaway Caroline. La fermeture du cimetière des Innocents. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°9, 1977. Le sain et le malsain. pp. 181-192