Rowlands has joined forces with charity Parkinson's UK to offer support to sufferers through its 510 pharmacies.

The partnership, launched ahead of Parkinson's Awareness Week (April 15 to 21), will see Rowlands pharmacy teams offer advice on the condition and signpost to extra support where necessary.

Rowlands said its partnership with Parkinson's UK would enable its pharmacy teams to talk confidently with and offer support to people affected by Parkinson's	More on Parkinson's disease Update: Parkinson's disease Practical Approach: Why is this elderly lady       experiencing falls? Update: Dementia part 1
	Ten members of Rowlands' services team attended a training day last week (March 21) to learn more about Parkinson's – including potential side effects of medication – and would pass this information on to pharmacists and staff across the Rowlands network. Training materials would also be distributed across all of its branches before April.

Rowlands said the partnership would enable its pharmacy teams to talk confidently and offer support to people affected by Parkinson's. "This campaign provides us with a fantastic way to support the professional development of our pharmacy teams and provides them with a greater awareness and understanding of Parkinson's," said Rowlands commercial services project developer Maureen Mallison.

Parkinson's UK added that the initiative would build on the existing help given at pharmacies by equipping them with the "latest knowledge and skills". "Community pharmacists are a great local source of expertise for people with Parkinson's, yet when it comes to the condition, few people know they can actually ask their pharmacist for help," explained Parkinson's UK head of education Daiga Heisters.

"The scheme will help pharmacists to spot the signs when someone may need extra medical support and signpost the person to that support," she said.