Disparities in Parkinson's diagnosis and care for Black people

Richard Huckabee, a public talking skilled, observed a sudden but persistent raspiness to his voice that strained to get out. Over the course of almost a decade, although new well being points arose (slower physique actions and physique tightening), docs have been as dumbfounded as Huckabee.

Richard Huckabee, seen right here together with his spouse Angela, suffered with Parkinson’s for almost 10 years earlier than being identified. Courtesy Richard Huckabee.

Then, the breakthrough Huckabee wanted got here. However even that was painful.

“I used to be devastated. 9 years out and in of hospitals, docs’ places of work, emergency rooms and it took a neurologist 10 minutes to diagnose me with Parkinson’s illness (PD),” stated Huckabee. “I used to be joyful to know what I had, but in addition devastated to know what I had, and that it took so lengthy.”

Huckabee, a Black man, symbolizes an all-too-familiar PD story. Black persons are much less prone to obtain a prognosis than white individuals. And if they’re identified, it’s often when PD is at a later stage.

One barrier could also be the truth that, in contrast to hypertension, breast most cancers and prostate most cancers (situations recognized by members of the Black group to be risks), PD exists in relative obscurity. Regardless that Rev. Jesse Jackson and the late Muhammad Ali have been identified with PD, it stays an under-the-radar well being subject for Black individuals nationally.

What’s Parkinson’s Illness?

So, simply what’s PD?

Parkinson’s illness (PD) is a power, progressive neurological dysfunction that impacts motion, inflicting signs like tremor, muscle rigidity and a lack of spontaneous motion, per the World Well being Group.

“Our helps permit individuals dwelling with Parkinson’s a secure place the place they will speak about their signs or speak about their journey, and simply construct group.”

– Carrie Dugas

“Parkinson’s Illness is among the commonest and quickest rising neurological illnesses right here within the US and worldwide,” stated Carrie Dugas of the Houston Space Parkinson’s Society (HAPS).

HAPS is an area nonprofit group devoted to enhancing the standard of life for people affected by PD.

PD is attributable to an absence of the mind chemical dopamine, which is important for clean muscle coordination.

Whereas there isn’t any remedy for PD, therapies like treatment, therapies and surgical procedure will help handle signs and enhance high quality of life.

Influence on Black individuals

As with so many different well being challenges, Parkinson’s has a racial part that shall be to Black individuals’s detriment if ignored. Listed below are the unhappy realities:

Decrease prognosis charges: Black people are much less prone to be identified with Parkinson’s illness in comparison with white People.

Later prognosis: When identified, Black sufferers usually tend to be identified at a later stage of the illness.

Restricted entry to specialists: There’s a notable hole in care, with Black sufferers much less prone to obtain care from neurologists or motion dysfunction specialists.

Suboptimal remedy: Black people with PD could obtain much less applicable medicines, dosages and fewer referrals for superior therapies or rehabilitative providers.

Poorer outcomes: These disparities in care contribute to worse outcomes, together with extra extreme incapacity, larger charges of dementia, poorer high quality of life, and elevated danger of dying from the illness.

The components contributing to Black individuals’s less-than-stellar experiences with PD mirror these of different well being points that discover Black individuals heading the record of these struggling poorer outcomes, based on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH).

These embrace underdiagnosis and under-reporting (together with delays in prognosis), racial biases which might be discovered to be prevalent in non-Black docs, healthcare entry challenges (together with restricted entry to insurance coverage) and an absence of Black individuals represented in PD analysis.

Native PD efforts

Longtime Houston resident, JoeAnna ‘Mama Joe’ Caldwell, suffered from Parkinson’s Illness and early-onset dementia. Credit score: The Mama Joe Undertaking.

JoeAnna “Mama Joe” Caldwell was a longtime Houston resident and central determine of a documentary shedding gentle on her challenges with Parkinson’s amid her prognosis of Alzheimer’s Illness, My Mama Joe: Hope & Assist. That documentary additionally highlighted the caregiving challenges in Black and Brown communities.

“It turns into your complete life,” stated Caldwell’s daughter, Bonita Burkes. “I used to be working full-time, going to highschool and elevating my children, all whereas managing my mother’s medicines and physician visits. There was no time for me. You lose your self within the course of.”

Within the Houston space, HAPS seeks to satisfy the wants of people with PD and their caregivers.

“Our aim is to make it possible for when an individual is identified with Parkinson’s illness, they know that we’re right here for them and that it’s simply not an remoted and lonely highway. So, our mission is to cut back the concern that’s related to a prognosis,” stated Dugas. “We’re the one group right here in Houston that’s boots on the bottom.

“We offer free providers. Every little thing that we offer is free for our shoppers or for the Parkinson’s group.”

Dugas stated HAPS providers embrace instructional applications, train courses, assist teams, monetary help, respite care and extra, for people identified with PD. HAPS additionally helps PD care companions (spouses, important others and household) or caregivers.

“Our assist permits individuals dwelling with Parkinson’s a secure place the place they will speak about their signs or speak about their journey, and simply construct group,” shared Dugas.

No official statistics can be found concerning the variety of Black individuals in Houston with PD, partly because of systemic disparities in prognosis. Nevertheless, information from a July 2025 NIH report on PD prevalence in Texas reported that the statewide “prevalence Charge” for Black individuals was 9.55 per 100,000 individuals. The report additionally acknowledged that in 2022, there have been 940 Black individuals in Texas identified with PD.

Efforts to handle disparities

To bridge the racial gaps concerning PD, the Parkinson’s Basis launched Parkinson’s Journey in Shade: Advancing Analysis and Care in Your Neighborhood. This initiative presents occasions tailor-made to satisfy native Black PD communities’ distinctive wants and experiences. Every occasion offers in-person genetic testing for free of charge by way of the Basis’s landmark genetics research, PD GENEration: Mapping the Way forward for Parkinson’s Illness.

A list of digital occasions might be discovered right here: https://www.parkinson.org/resources-support/occasions.

Kathleen Crist, HAPS government director. Credit score: HAPS.

Nearer to dwelling, HAPS will host its Annual Gala on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Revaire (7122 Previous Katy Highway). Because the group’s largest fundraising occasion of the yr, the gala’s proceeds straight assist free applications and providers for people with Parkinson’s illness and their households throughout eight Houston-area counties.

“This gala embodies the center of our mission,” stated Government Director Kathleen Crist.

“By coming collectively as a group, we not solely increase important funds but in addition create an area of compassion, optimism and connection for these dwelling with Parkinson’s and their family members,” acknowledged Gala Chairs Alicia and Henry Goodrow.