PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Parkinson’s Disease and Aging-related Movement Disorders
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1610448
This article is part of the Research TopicParkinson Disease: Current findings and challenges in diagnosing and treating motor and non-motor symptomsView all 4 articles
A model to address healthcare gaps and poor research participation in Hispanic patients with Parkinson's disease
Provisionally accepted
M. Felice Ghilardi1*
Alessandro Di Rocco2Jennifer Fearday3Donna Sperlakis3
Maria Lima1Nora Vanegas-Arroyave4
Elisa Tatti1Marcelo Arroyave1
evelyn stevens3Denise Hernandez5Paulina Latapi-Gonzalez6meri-margaret deoudes3
Christiana Evers3- 1School of Medicine, City University of New York, New York City, New York, United States
- 2Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders Division, Northwell Health, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Long Island, NY, USA, New York, United States
- 3Parkinson's Foundation, New York, United States
- 4Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States
- 5Dallas Fort Worth Community Health Worker Association, Dallas, TX, USA, Dallas, United States
- 6Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University,, Chicago,, United States
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Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, manifests with motor and non-motor symptoms. Despite similar incidence, in the US, disease management of Hispanic patients with PD is poorer than that of White non-Hispanics, and their participation in clinical trials does not reflect expected values (well below 5% versus expected values around 20%). Together with other evidence, these observations are expressions of poor healthcare in Hispanic patients with PD, suggesting underutilization of proper healthcare, social and economic disadvantage, and other factors. The scant participation of Hispanic patients in clinical trials further exacerbates care inadequacy. In this paper, after reviewing evidence of healthcare gaps in Hispanic patients with PD and their low participation in research, we present a comprehensive model for reaching these patients and their caregivers, educating them on PD, and engaging them in research. This model is based on the work and experience of the Parkinson's Foundation, which over the years, has worked to increase PD awareness in Hispanic communities. This model is based on the training of promotores de salud (community health workers) inside Hispanic communities, the identification of needs and priorities of patients and caregivers with surveys and focus groups within Hispanic communities, and the patients' feedback about their participation in research. The development of this model could achieve sustainable partnerships with community-based organizations to promote better care and enhance participation in research of Hispanic patients. In turn, this could lead to a better quality of life for all patients with PD and their caregivers.
Keywords: Promotores de Salud, Latino, Hispanic/Latino, Healthcare improvement, Parkinson Disease, research participation, community intervention
Received: 12 Apr 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ghilardi, Di Rocco, Fearday, Sperlakis, Lima, Vanegas-Arroyave, Tatti, Arroyave, stevens, Hernandez, Latapi-Gonzalez, deoudes and Evers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: M. Felice Ghilardi, School of Medicine, City University of New York, New York City, 10031-9101, New York, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.