Ecotourists with Parkinson's Disease: an opportunity to overcome limitations

Abstract

Ecotourism aims to promote well-being and contact with nature, as well as the appreciation of this environment, even if indirectly. The various sports modalities that fall under Ecotourism are considered, such as hiking and running; mountaineering and climbing; and cycling. Correlating these practices with the inclusion of people with disabilities, especially individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD), this work uses a descriptive methodological approach and reports the relationship of ecotourists with the improvement in quality of life after diagnosis of PD. Based on one of the lives held at “Chá das Cinco”, made by Projeto Estímulo (PE, Brazil), with the importance of Ecotourism in the lives of people with PD, this work aims to present the relationship between health and well-being with the reports and the importance of dissemination, through the analysis of the fortieth live held on PE's YouTube channel, entitled “Challenging Parkinson's Disease”. In this report, the marathon runner Onacir Bueno was discussed; the cyclist, Elizangela Kuester and the mountaineer, Rodrigo Mendes; associating their sports practices with the improvement of the motor symptoms of PD, such as bradykinesia, tremor and gait changes. This description of the report equates the need to share these stories, even if virtually, to act as an incentive to other people with PD, or to influence caregivers or those who live with these individuals to have a new perspective on this disease. It is also considered how contact with nature through Ecotourism contributes to the physical and mental well-being of individuals with PD.