Uni Tasmania has a new MOOC to help people with Parkinson’s “live their best possible lives.”

The massive open on-line course comes from the Wicking dementia research centre and Menzies IMR at the university.  It includes information on risk, symptoms, medical and allied health treatments, plus accounts of their experience from peoples with Parkinson’s.   The Parkinson’s Research Foundation and venture philanthropy fund Miriax stumped up the $25,000 cost.

Menzies co-lead Michele Callisaya says she used her lived experience  of the disease to develop content and address misunderstandings, including the way brain changes signal its arrival long before problems with movement appear. Early symptoms can be fatigue loss of sensed of smell and anxiety.

The MOOC adds to the great U Tas tradition of on-line education products that help enormous numbers of people around the world. Wicking’s current catalogue includes two MOOCs on dementia, one on traumatic brain injury and another on Motor Neurone Disease. Wicking