On Tuesday, March 19, the official presentation of a pioneering project, unique in the world, took place, which will investigate the possible benefits of sport, specifically golf, in Parkinson's patients.

Now that the project has already started, having completed four sessions of the program, it was the right time for its institutional presentation within the framework of the Barcelona Golf Club.

In addition, it was announced that on Friday, April 12, coinciding with World Parkinson's Day, the 1st Charity Tournament 'Golf with Parkinson' will be organized at the same club, in order to raise funds to support the study.

The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Research Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has thus initiated a scientific study to evaluate the possible cognitive, motor and emotional effects and benefits of sport in patients with this neurodegenerative disease.

A study supported by the 'Golf with Parkinson' Association, the Barcelona Golf Club, the Barcelona Golf Academy and the Catalan Golf Federation.

“As president of the club, I am very proud to be able to offer our headquarters for this cause and make our facilities available for this program,” said Santiago Rosell, president of the Barcelona Golf Club; who also emphasized “the extraordinary work that Juan Carlos Campillo is doing regarding this pathology,” convinced that “golf has beneficial effects for those who suffer from this disease.”.

Juan Carlos Campillo, president of the 'Golf with Parkinson' Association and a patient, thanked all the key people who have trusted in the project from the very beginning, starting with Carlos Vivas and Santiago Rosell, with their clear message: "We will do everything you need, Juan Carlos"... "And here they are, which for me is super important"; followed by Juan Escayola, vice president of the association, and all the people who have been involved in helping the project.

He also recalled that the spark for the project was ignited at a meeting of a group of Parkinson's patients on WhatsApp a couple of years ago at the Olympic Canal in Castelldefels, who loved golf, and since then the initiative has grown to what it is now.

Then, a year ago, Juan Carlos presented the project to the Hospital de Sant Pau, and they were interested in implementing it, as was the Catalan Golf Federation, which immediately became aware of the issue. “Thanks to them, I can realize my dream of bringing golf to people with Parkinson's, because I know it can work for them and will be beneficial.”.

For his part, Ramón Nogué, president of the Catalan Golf Federation, commented: “Our federation receives many requests, and we are always open to helping people. Juan Carlos came to us a year ago and explained his project with such logic, certainty, and passion that we offered him our full support. We then realized that his objective couldn't remain solely within Catalonia; it needed to be given a national dimension. Therefore, at the next RFEG meeting, we brought it up to give it all the support and commitment it deserves.”.

Dr. Carme García-Sánchez, a researcher at the Sant Pau Research Institute and a neuropsychologist in the Neurology Department at Sant Pau Hospital, recalled when Juan Carlos presented her with the idea of testing golf with more Parkinson's patients. She suggested that they "do it properly, through a study using the appropriate scientific methodology, because if we demonstrate that it has benefits, we can then communicate this to the scientific community.".

For two and a half months, a control group of 14 volunteer patients will be conducting weekly sessions at the Barcelona Golf Club, with plans to repeat the study later with another group to obtain more significant statistics and consolidate the results.

“It hasn’t been easy to get here, as every project has had to overcome procedures such as approval from the hospital’s Technical Committee. But the easiest part has been finding patients who wanted to participate voluntarily in this study, since they all said yes right away,” continues Dr. Carme García-Sánchez.

“The research consists of studying the benefits of playing golf in different aspects: motor, cognitive, and affective. First, the participants were assessed by a neurologist for their motor skills, and by me for their emotional and cognitive abilities. The study lasts three months, and the same analysis will be performed at the end of the study to obtain the results.”.

“Personally, I think it will turn out very well, and that above all there will be changes at an emotional level because, even before we have the results, we already know that the patients are very happy.”.

Finally, Carlos Vivas, Head Coach of the Barcelona Golf Academy, also thanked “all parties involved for including the club's academy, especially the Hospital de Sant Pau for integrating it into the study, and above all, the patients. I am sure that with this golf course, your mobility and coordination will improve, and I think that if you continue, you will feel much better in the long run.”.

“Most patients have never tried golf before, and in their practice we don't do anything different than what we do with other people who don't have the disease.” He also thanked Sergio González and Alejandro Sánchez for their work as instructors at the academy.

SOURCE: Golf with Parkinson's.