The Kensington: Leading the Way in Compassionate Parkinson’s Care 

At The Kensington in White Plains, NY, compassionate care for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) isn’t just a promise, it is a practice grounded in training and personalization. 

Through expert-led training and measurable outcomes, the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care educates and prepares care staff working in senior living communities and home care agencies to provide optimal support for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The program focuses on practical, day-to-day strategies on how Parkinson’s affects movement and mood — and how PD care can improve quality of life. 

As a community partner, The Kensington ensures residents with Parkinson’s receive individualized, person-centered support. In this article, The Kensington Associate Executive Director Joanne Hubbard shares how her team puts these practices into action every day. 

How prevalent is Parkinson’s disease at The Kensington?  

Joanne: It fluctuates but about 15 to 30% of our total resident population are living with Parkinson's. In New York, there's a special license for assisted living communities called an enhanced license that allows our residents to age in place. The Kensington has that license, which enables people to remain in our community while receiving higher acuity care as their condition progresses. 

Our promise is to love and care for our residents like we would our own family. Parkinson’s care is more than managing symptoms, we aim to preserve dignity, purpose, voice and quality of life at every stage.  

Explore Our Parkinson’s Care for Senior Living Communities Courses

Why did you become a Community Partner?  

Joanne: Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care training equips our team to do more than share information — it builds a shared understanding that allows residents, families and team members to navigate Parkinson’s together. Our team and most residents recognize how Parkinson’s can affect daily activities and symptoms related to Parkinson's. Because of our commitment to excellence in Parkinson’s care, and our partnership with Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care, we support more people with Parkinson’s. The Community Partners provides our team, residents and families with information they need to succeed now. 

What are some examples of how staff provides specialized Parkinson’s care?

Joanne: Our THRIVE with Parkinson’s program for residents with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders and their family members stands for: Therapeutic, Holistic, Revitalizing, Inspiring Independence, Vocally Vibrant and Empowering. When it comes to Parkinson’s, our team staff is trained to be intentional with time. They know to slow down, allow medication time to take effect, and adjust communication so instructions are clear and manageable. They know to give residents extra time for a response if they're having an off episode.  

 When you see these strategies making a difference, it reinforces that Parkinson’s training truly works. Anyone coming into this work is doing it because you love people and you want to help. These strategies enable you to actualize that goal. 

How do you train staff to provide better Parkinson’s care?  

Joanne: We use the Community Partners Portal, which staff can complete at their own pace, but I'm an advocate of the classroom approach so we watch the courses together. When a new team member starts, they participate in a full day of Parkinson's training. I also advocate for experiential learning — if you're not doing it yourself, you are less likely to apply it. I want people to feel scenarios in their bodies. We practice in real time and discuss scenarios. We also have some of our residents with Parkinson’s join the training for a Q&A, which is highly impactful. 

As a Community Partner we are given educational resources for our team like the Experiential Toolkit. The kit includes heavyweight shoes with Velcro that especially resonate with staff because they get stuck to the carpet. So, when they get up from a chair wearing these shoes, they can’t take that first step. They can really imagine what a freezing of gait episode feels like. And they can apply that feeling to helping a resident who freezes when going through a threshold or walking into the elevator.  

Our team also customizes routines for residents with Parkinson’s. We promote independence. For example, we schedule time to help Ben complete his night routine while seated, or if he wants to stand, we will stand behind him. Our goal is to not do things for residents they can do for themselves. 

The Kensington is known for its ability to deliver Parkinson’s medication on time. How and why is this a goal for your center?   

Joanne: Providing Parkinson’s medication on time is a major key of the Community Partner program. It was the main area that made me start digging into what do we need to do differently to improve our Parkinson’s care. 

After joining the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Partners program, we created an additional nursing position to administer Parkinson's medication. Many of our residents with Parkinson’s require up to eight medication passes a day. That level of frequency made it an impossible task for one nurse to get to all residents on time.  

Today, our residents with Parkinson's get their PD medications within a 15-minute window. We recognize that many care centers do not have the same level of resources available. That is one of the reasons I am so proud to work at The Kensington, our leadership understands it's always about the people. Our promise is to love and care for our residents as if they're our own family. And when there is a need, we look at how we can solve it. 

What’s your favorite Kensington program?  

Joanne: We offer programs that serve the body, mind, spirit. Our music therapy program is led by a therapist with a background in neurologic music therapy. He encompasses a lot of neurology-based approaches — a mix of coordination, range of motion and movement. He also does a lot of breathing, meditation and relaxation exercises. Our residents experience a lot of stiffness and anxiety, so it’s a win if we can give them tools they can then use in their own time.  

I also run our vocal gym that focuses on our vocal structure, monotone speech, issues with breath support and voice control. I educate attendees about dopamine and how we need it to have coordination and movement. I talk a lot about Parkinson’s in the vocal gym and what's happening in the brain and the body. This helps the residents understand what is happening and gives them a sense of control.  

Learn more about Speech & Swallowing Issues in Parkinson’s

One way Kensington is unique is that it educates residents about Parkinson’s too. Why?  

Joanne: We keep our Parkinson's programming open for everybody. Our residents were noticing when their friends’ symptoms were interfering with something they were doing and would bring it up to staff, saying “hey, I'm noticing Joanne's having a harder time at breakfast with her utensils.” We provide a context and understand about Parkinson’s in how maybe Joanne’s experiencing an “off” time to help them understand what is happening rather than feel concerned or confused. 

How does Kensington offer emotional support for residents?  

Joanne: We offer Parkinson’s and movement disorders support groups for residents and a separate one for care givers and family members. They help residents better understand their own experiences and relate to others. We meet monthly and they run the group; I just facilitate it — it's an amazing group. They find support in one another.  

What has surprised you about Parkinson’s disease?  

Joanne: My support group told me I can share this, but I was surprised to learn how isolated people in the group felt because of Parkinson’s. They felt misunderstood and judged, some were told they were making their Parkinson’s up. For them to be able to come to this group and be able to talk has given them a community within the community.  

Just last month I brought up delusions to the group, a topic we don't hear a lot from the residents about. Like an onion, the group unfolded. Some people were very aware they had experienced delusions, while others were realizing it during the group. It was a powerful session to say the least.  

Can you share a resident story that inspired you?  

Joanne: We have a resident that was unable to walk unassisted. Right away he expressed his goal, which was to walk his daughter down the aisle for her upcoming wedding. It was helpful for staff to know his goal. With hard work, steady Parkinson’s care and therapy, he walked her down the aisle. He danced with her at her wedding, and he even gave a speech. The impression we got is that these things weren’t even on his radar when he joined us. We were all so moved.   

Do you have any advice for family members of people with Parkinson’s considering community living?  

Joanne: When looking at potential senior living communities, always ask questions. I would start with these topics and avoid feeding staff answers:   

1. Ask all the PD medication questions: How are medications managed? Who manages them? Can the person manage their own medications or does a nurse or a medication aide administer it? What is the window of time that they'll get medications?  

2. What kind of specialized programs do you have for people with Parkinson's? 

3. What support opportunities do you have for residents? And for the families?  

4. Ask about their training in Parkinson’s care. Look for the Parkinson's Foundation Community Partners badge, which shows they’ve completed additional Parkinson’s training.

The Parkinson’s Foundation is grateful to Acadia Pharmaceuticals and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for their support of Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care.

Learn more about the Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care program and find a community partner site near you.