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Abigail’s Story

Abigail is a single mother to two young daughter and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at 40.

Each day, she waits for medication to take effect before starting basic routines like the school run, yet walking remains painful and unsteady. Her movement can be uneven and unpredictable, increasing the risk of trips and falls, especially in busy or unfamiliar environments.

Despite these challenges, Abigail remains focused on her children and continues to stay involved in their daily lives. Parkinson’s also affects her energy, memory and ability to manage the demands of parenting, making everyday tasks more difficult.

Parkinson’s gait impairment has a profound impact on Abigail’s quality of life, independence and her capacity to provide for her daughters.

Our research into a new non-invasive treatment could be the solution for Abigail.

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Parkinson’s gait research can change lives

For someone with Parkinson’s gait impairments, movement becomes a challenge. Walking becomes painful. The resulting shuffling gait can lead to falls, hospital, even early admission to aged care.

Now there’s promising research to relieve this problem. Here’s how it works:

Help fund pioneering research

Parkinson’s disease affects more than six million people worldwide, and gait difficulties are among its most common and debilitating symptoms.

Our research team, led by A/Prof Mehrnaz Shoushtarian, is developing a new intervention to address these challenges using non-invasive stimulation of the feet, delivered through vibration or mild electrical pulses.

The team is currently conducting clinical trials to test whether this approach can reduce gait disturbances by disrupting the abnormal brain activity that interferes with walking.

You can help make this work possible with a generous gift today—supporting efforts to reduce falls and improve stability for people living with Parkinson’s.

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Imagine if you could put on a sock and it buzzed your feet and then you could walk more smoothly during the day… that would be amazing. This gives us a lot of hope.” Abigail, whose early onset of Parkinson’s affected her ability to walk independently and care for her children.

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Want to support the future of research like this?

The progress of life-changing treatments are only made possible by donations from our supporters. Your support today could give those with chronic pain hope of a pain-free future.

Find out how you can support research innovation here.

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