Peggy Groves Schaefer and Scripps Neurologic Music Therapy

Over the years, the FFF has been privileged to meet and aid a host of special individuals whose passion, expertise, and spirit have improved the health and well-being of those with whom they have worked. And among these individuals perhaps none is more gifted and dedicated in the field of Parkinson's treatment than Peggy Groves Schaefer. This graduate of Colorado State University's Master of Music program trained with world-renowned music therapy researcher Dr. Michael Thaut. She is currently helping Parkinson's patients via the Scripps Encinitas Rehabilitation Program, which incorporates Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), gait training, speech therapy and moral support to those battling the disease. Peggy is a board-certified Music Therapist and an NMT Fellow who has been working in Southern California since 2006, both at Scripps and through her own Metric Music Therapy network, and according to Don Flood, she "is the expert down here" in Southern California, a woman "so dedicated to helping Parkinson's people, she turns her herself inside out to make things happen."

A woman so passionate and driven certainly deserves the necessary support to accomplish her life's work of helping Parkinson's patients--and those suffering from autism, stroke, brain injury or cerebral palsy--and the Flood Family Foundation has done its part over the years to ensure she can bring her expertise and hope to more and more patients. In a recent interview, Peggy recounts the first meetings with Don and how that soon led to an innovative, FFF-funded NMT program at Scripps:

I met Don Flood, and subsequently the family, during my music therapy internship in San Diego, CA. It was during my internship that he made contact with my internship director, Barbara Reuer, to discuss Neurologic Music Therapy and how it could be used within the San Diego Parkinson's community. At that time, Barbara had two interns who had graduated from Colorado State University's masters in music therapy program and had experience in the research and application of Neurologic Music Therapy. Through meetings and events with the Parkinson's disease community, I struck up a working relationship with Don and we set out to expand NMT to Scripps through Don's connections with Dr. Lobatz and the Scripps Encinitas Rehabilitation Program. The Scripps project primarily came about through the unceasing efforts of Don. Dr. Lobatz was key in getting NMT approved by the hospital. Don and Dr. Lobatz (medical director of Scripps Encinitas Rehab) agreed to introduce NMT to the staff of the hospital by hosting a one day training given by Dr. Michael Thaut and his team. This training introduced the NMT theory and research to interested therapists and staff at the Rehab program. Once Dr. Lobatz educated the staff and administration, he felt it was a great fit for their program and a contract position was offered for me to join the inpatient treatment team. I started treatment at Scripps in August, 2006 and have continued there to date.

At the time, however, Scripps found itself without the financial resources to support the program, a fact that threatened to derail all of the progress made by Dr. Lobatz, Dr. Thaut, Peggy and Don. But the FFF stepped in at the crucial time to address the funding gap. According to Peggy:

The financial concerns were valid. The hospital would not and is not able to bill insurance for NMT services. We got around that issue by the generous spirit of the Flood Family. They agreed to pay for my service contract. Their generosity cemented NMT into the Rehabilitation Center and after the first year of my contract, Dr. Lobatz and Scripps decided it was a worth while cause and took over the payment of my services. But, it is not to be overstated that the Flood family was responsible for allowing NMT to flourish and give Dr. Lobatz supportive treatment data to prove the need for the hospital to honor the payment of NMT services.

Through the generosity and foresight of the FFF donors, Scripps administrators began to realize the efficacy of NMT in regards to Parkinson's Disease patients, and the institution has been supporting Peggy's efforts ever since.

The need for expanded outpatient care continues to rise, however, and a common frustration among Peggy and her fellow therapists is that they must stop their treatments once patients leave the hospital, primarily because most insurance companies--including Medicare--do not yet compensate for outpatient NMT. "This is the problem that remains," Don believes. "Peggy is upset that she treats patients, and then they have no where to go."

This situation can be helped by raising awareness of this challenge facing the Parkinson's community and by funding research initiatives whose ultimate goal is to put NMT therapies on the radar of Medicare administrators and show the statistical proof of what researchers and caregivers alike already know through experience: that outpatient Parkinson's care is affordable preventative medicine that will positively transform the longevity and quality of life of those suffering from the disease.

The Flood Family Foundation is eager to support this cutting-edge, clinically-proven advent in Parkinson's therapy, and we are also eager for your support. As the FFF is a volunteer-driven organization, all of our resources for philanthropic work come through a network of caring people willing to donate their time and/or financial resources to worthwhile projects such as the ones described above (and elsewhere on this blog). If you have such resources, or if you would like to hear about ways you can invest in the well-being of your community, we would love to hear from you. Together we can build a better, healthier world one program at a time.