In observance of World Parkinson’s Day, HITN is broadcasting a Spanish-language version of The Long Road to Hope: Ending Parkinson’s Disease, a documentary produced by the University of Rochester Center for Health and Technology (CHeT).
The program is to premiere on Saturday, April 11th, at 5 p.m. ET and will also be available on demand through HITNGo.
The broadcast reflects a collaboration between HITN and CHeT aimed at expanding access to health information for Spanish-speaking audiences. “Partnering with the University of Rochester Center for Health and Technology to air The Long Road to Hope is exactly the kind of work HITN exists to do,” said Erika Vogt-Lowell, the network’s vice president of content. She said the goal is to provide information about Parkinson’s disease in Spanish, with stories and perspectives that resonate with Hispanic communities.
The documentary is based on the book Ending Parkinson’s Disease, co-written by Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist and advocate for prevention and awareness. Through personal stories and research insights, the film examines efforts to reduce the global burden of the disease.
“We hope the stories of those in The Long Road to Hope light a way to a world where Parkinson’s is increasingly rare. For almost all, Parkinson’s is preventable. Two centuries of Parkinson’s is enough. Let’s be the generation that brings about the fall of this terrible disease,” Dr. Dorsey said. He has also written The Parkinson’s Plan.
An estimated 173,000 Hispanics in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease, according to calculations based on data from the Parkinson’s Foundation and the U.S. Census. Advocates say that, despite those numbers, Spanish-language resources and representation in research remain limited.
