KELLY’S PD TIDBITS: A CARE PARTNER’S MINI-GUIDE -- OCTOBER 2025

In these occasional “Tidbits,” I share calming, practical strategies to support your loved one living with Parkinson’s – while helping you navigate daily challenges with greater ease and confidence.

I hear you. I feel you. I am in this with you.

No matter what role you play, humans respond better with empathy. In the doctor-patient relationship, this was more commonly called “bedside manner” and consisted of traits that were once thought to be innate. In recent decades, we know empathy is a learned skill. Empathy offers a shortcut to understanding and carves a deeper connection with one another.

Empathy goes beyond the symptoms checked off on your medical chart. It takes into consideration values, feelings and narrative. It can be described as both the capacity to understand the other person’s outlook (putting yourself in their shoes so to speak) and it’s a key communication tool requiring us to pull from cognitive and emotional resources. 

I challenge you to periodically take inventory of what your own empathy efforts look like. Here is a quick way to start:

• Eye contact – Position yourself at the other person’s level instead of walking around and multi-tasking.

• Word choice – It is better to use the concept of “What are you wanting for yourself?”  versus “I need to know what to get you before I leave for work.” And if you are working with medical jargon, ask for help breaking it down so it is more digestible.

• Energy, posture, stance – is it tense, fidgety, hurried?

A place you are sure to find an outpouring of empathy is at one of PRO’s support groups. Of course, no two Parkinson’s journeys are identical. This can be true for the presentation, its progression and the person’s perception of it. However, there are many valuable common denominators that can fill your cup to prepare you for another day.

Let’s face it, we can easily slide into auto-pilot when we co-habitate with someone for many years. What if a few small adjustments in empathetic delivery could make a noticeable difference? Winning!

Here is a curated YouTube playlist focusing on the theme of this months tidbits: Empathy Revolution