Kim Dahler has led the Port Macquarie Support Group for the past six years. The group was established in the mid-1980s. When asked what makes an effective Parkinson’s support group she doesn’t hesitate:

“I think an effective support group needs to have an active Committee which leads proactive engagement with support group members and strives to establish a sense of camaraderie between everyone involved.

“It’s also important to create a safe environment where everyone feels supported and cared for,” she said.

The Port Macquarie group has 150 people on its distribution list, and a good meeting attracts 50 participants while the average attendance is 35.

Every meeting starts with an ice-breaking exercise followed by one or more guest speakers, news updates and sharing of articles from the Parkinson’s NSW InTouch newsletter, and the usual Treasurer and Secretary reports to members.

The local Parkinson’s Specialist Nurse Jody Lloyd also tries to attend all meetings.

There are sometimes breakout groups set up to discuss upcoming events, as well as other opportunities for participants to get together at a boxing group on Friday mornings and a weekly exercise session at Ramsay Health.

The group also publishes a monthly magazine called The Rattler and undertakes fundraising in support of its local nursing service.

“However fundraising is on a case-by-case basis; we don’t believe it’s appropriate to make donation requests of group members all the time,” said Kim.

“Also we try to be creative and offer meaningful returns for donors. For example, at the moment we are running a raffle, and the prizes include home-cooked meals for the winners. That enables support group engagement at the same time as providing a tasty benefit for the winning ticket holders.”

Photo caption:
Left to right: Therese Goshorn and Kim Dahler (Leader)