‘Parkinson’s in your workplace’: Awareness for public-facing organisations

Emma Jones

Senior marketing officer

About the campaign

• An awareness session for organisations

to use as part of their in-house training

programmes

• Equip staff with the knowledge and

understanding of Parkinson’s and ways

they can support someone with the

condition.

About the campaign

• Anyone who delivers in-house training

such as inductions, equality and

diversity training or elements of the

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) etc.

About the campaign

• Its simple, flexible and self-contained,

requiring no prior knowledge of

Parkinson’s from the trainer.

• The narrated session includes video

content, group activities and a trainer

guide.

An estimated 69,000

people with

Parkinson’s experience

rudeness and hostility

in public

Our research

What does this mean?

• Leading a normal life can be difficult.

• Every day journeys can be daunting for

people with Parkinson’s.

• Staff and other customers are simply

unaware of what the condition means.

• People with the condition want

understanding, patience and an offer of

help.

‘Public transport stations

will realise we need

time and consideration

particularly areas like

ticket barriers’.

‘I’d be less embarrassed

and self-conscious about

being out in public places

and this could help me try

to live a normal life.’

‘People wouldn’t

assume it was an

old person’

disease’

‘I’d be able to cope

in crowded places –

particularly airport

security and shops’.

‘Freedom to shop.

Go into public

houses without

being stared at’.

Awareness means everything

to someone with Parkinson’s…

Our goal

Ensure people with Parkinson’s feel

supported to take control and live life

to the full in a society that

understands Parkinson’s.

One small action makes a big impact

on people with Parkinson's.

Reasons to believe

Public-facing staff can make the

difference between a good or a bad

day for a customer or colleague with

Parkinson’s.

Reasons to believe

Target audience

• In-house trainers and customer-facing

staff.

• Tested with Fuller’s Inns, Arcadia and TfL.

Behaviour change and education• We understand that not everyone knows

about Parkinson’s.

• Education is key to changing perceptions

and behaviour.

• Staff can learn more about Parkinson’s

in the context of their workplace and

demonstrate awareness through their

day-to-day roles.

The pilot

• The pilot ran from October 2015 to end

of March 2016.

• Its purpose was to ensure the session

works for different types of customer

settings such as retail, hospitality and

transport hubs etc.

• Our aim was to have 30 organisations

sign up to the pilot.

What we’ve achieved so far50 organisations from different industries submitted interest in piloting the session

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Arts

Housing

Charity

Debt Mgmt

Government (Central and local)

Health & Fitness

Hospitality

Manufacturing

Police constabulary

Retail

Schools

Training agencies

Transport

Fire and Rescue

Arts

Housing

Charity

Debt Mgmt

Government (Central and local)

Health & Fitness

Hospitality

Manufacturing

Police constabulary

Retail

Schools

Training agencies

Transport

Fire and Rescue

Results

• 10 organisations

provided feedback

• 130 members of

staff from different

organisations have

taken part in the

session

Session participants

20%

6%

41%

31%

2% Transport staff

Retail

Hospitality

Police

Governmentorgs

Feedback

80%

20%

Overall rating from trainers

Score 5(Excellent)

Score 4

2%

29%

69%

Overall rating session participants

Score 3(okay)

Score 4(Very good)

Score 5(Excellent)

Impact on behaviour

• “I once asked someone to leave the pub

because I thought they were drunk. I found

out afterwards that they had Parkinson’s. I

felt awful. That’s why I’m so glad we’re

doing this – just helps you think first before

you act.”

• “Avoid making assumptions and jumping

to conclusions based on appearance.”

Impact on behaviour

• “Make a conscious effort not to pre-judge

any customer and just take the time to find

out if they’re ok. That person might have a

disability that I don’t know about.”

• “Thought it was just a tremor – this is a real

eye-opener.”

Impact on behaviour

• “Great ideas from discussion with my pub

colleagues - pouring half a pint into a pint

glass so it’s easier for someone to carry.”

• “I didn’t know much about it so after today

I’ll definitely be looking at things

completely differently.”

Summary

Overall 140 people know more about

Parkinson’s than they did before – that’s

just the pilot!

• Common themes of action:

• Avoid making assumptions

• Effort to realise someone may have

a condition that isn’t obvious

• Think before they act

Next steps

• Focus groups to gauge further insights to

expand the session for other types of

organisations.

• Aim to formally launch in autumn 2016.

• Contribute to making life easier for people

with Parkinson’s

• Further information:

parkinsons.org.uk/yourworkplace

Cheers!

Thanks for listening

We’re the Parkinson’s charity that drives

better care, treatments and quality of life.

Together we can bring forward the day

when no one fears Parkinson’s.

Web: parkinsons.org.ukFacebook: facebook.com/parkinsonsukTwitter: twitter.com/parkinsonsuk

Emma Jones Twitter: @ETJWales

Visit the CharityComms website

to view slides from past events,

see what events we have

coming up and to check out

what else we do:

www.charitycomms.org.uk

14 July 2016

London

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