Objective: To understand the breadth and scope of clinical practice and education needs of the Allied Health Professionals (AHP) involved in the care of Patients with Movement Disorders (MD) across the world.
Background: A survey was developed to identify the needs and practices of AHPs and to guide recommendations for Education and Membership Committees. After receiving ethical approval from Egas Moniz School of Health & Science (Almada, Portugal), the survey was disseminated (July 2023- October 2023).
Method: The survey questionnaire comprised 44 questions and was sent to current AHP members via internal email and disseminated on social media channels within the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society as well as non-members identified through local affiliated societies.
Results: The survey yielded 288 responses from 54 countries and 8 disciplines. Sixty four percent of the respondents had a postgraduate degree; 70% had over 11 years of experience with patients with movement disorders. Clinical practice for the majority was ongoing, in an outpatient setting, but seeing patients only for one session per week. The barriers to practice were mainly transportation costs, somewhat mitigated by telepractice. Online and on-demand education from MDS is highly valued, with articles in the MDS Journals and webinars being the main sources of continuing education.
Conclusion: This is the first and largest survey of AHP for the Movement Disorders community. This survey showed that there are gaps in multidisciplinary care and current models of healthcare delivery for patients with movement disorders with barriers such as delayed referrals, transportation and limited access to standardized training. Telepractice can mitigate some of these barriers and improve access to therapy for some patients. Similarly, AHP value online and on-demand specialised education content to maintain high professional standards and clinical provision. These results were shared with the Education and the Web-based learning Committee. Future directions include developing a coordinated global strategy for education to streamline care for individuals with movement disorders globally whilst respecting local experience and clinical practice.
We acknowledge the support of the MDS and Mr Brandon Hamilton for the dissemination and collection of the Survey data.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
A. Sivaramakrishnan, A. Roberts, E. Tripoliti, L. Rochester, A. Nieuwboer, J. Dean. Allied Health Professionals in Movement Disorders: a survey of clinical practice and education needs across the world [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2026; 41 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/allied-health-professionals-in-movement-disorders-a-survey-of-clinical-practice-and-education-needs-across-the-world/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2026 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/allied-health-professionals-in-movement-disorders-a-survey-of-clinical-practice-and-education-needs-across-the-world/