Ms Richelle Flanagan:

As someone who lives with Parkinson's, I hid my Parkinson's for two years for fear of the stigma around people thinking I was less capable as a dietitian or colleague. It was important to find a peer group in my age group so that I could see it was possible to live with Parkinson's, be open about it and be supported. It is important for anyone with a neurological condition to break down those walls of stigma by enabling peer support groups. The reality is the health services will not be able to supply that, so it comes down to the charity and non-profit sector to supply that. Research shows, with the explosion of neurological conditions, peer support will become an important part of maintaining self-management and people's quality of life in the community. On Parkinson's specifically, Parkinson's Ireland supplies support groups, does online and offline classes and a programme for newly diagnosed people. There is also the Early Onset Parkinson's Disease Ireland group which specifically supports people with early onset Parkinson's. Neither organisation gets funding from the HSE to supply those services. Parkinson's Ireland potentially represents 18,000 people with Parkinson's but does not get any funding from the HSE to help it to deliver those services on the ground. That must also be recognised. It could really help the health services by taking that pressure off through peer support.