Kimberly Schlapman opened up about the importance of Parkinson’s awareness when she spoke at the World Parkinson’s Congress last month in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Little Big Town artist, chef, author, wife, and mother of two caught up with iHeartCountry ahead of the conference. The event brings together neuroscientists, researchers, caregivers, people with Parkinson’s Disease and others in the community. Schlapman’s mother, Barbara, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s more than two decades ago, “so we have gone down a long family journey with this disease. …My siblings and I are very active in my mother's care, and it's so important to advocate for her.”

‘I’ll Do Anything For My Mama’

Schlapman teamed up with AbbVie on Changing the Tune of Parkinson’s Disease, a program that aims to empower people living with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. Changing the Tune defines Parkinson’s disease as “a progressive and chronic movement disorder that affects the nerve cells in part of the brain, leading to symptoms like shaky hands, stiff muscles, slowed movement and difficulty with balance.”

The Georgia-born country artist said “no symptom is too small to mention [to a doctor] because Parkinson’s is such a complex disease.” For Barbara, it started with “a slight tremor in her hand,” Schlapman shares on the Changing the Tune of Parkinson’s Disease website. Barbara dismissed the minor symptoms at first, and she “was shocked” when a neurologist diagnosed her with Parkinson’s disease. Kimberly said via Changing the Tune that the family’s journey “has been a rollercoaster of emotions. …It’s heartbreaking to watch someone you love struggle, knowing there’s little you can do to ease their pain and frustration.”

“I'll do anything for my mama and I would be active in her care no matter what,” Schlapman shared with iHeartCountry, “but this [program] just puts more of a highlight on the disease, and the more attention this disease gets, the better life is for my mother because the more discoveries there are in the treatment and the research just means better for her.”

Schlapman said over the last 21 years since her mother's diagnosis, she’s learned how important it is “for caregivers to make sure they have support.” That includes talking with others about their experiences to know they’re not alone. “My generation, there's so much of that happening now and we just need to talk about it more because in the past, I feel like no one talked about it. I didn't know what my life was going to become as a caregiver. And so, I just want to talk to more and more people about it so that we can be as prepared as possible for the journey.”

‘I Have So Much Hope For The Future’

Dr. Robert Wiggins, a neurologist and movement disorders specialist, said more than one million people in the United States have Parkinson’s disease. Every patient’s experience is different, and every caregiver’s experience is different. “Some people process by music, some people process by researching, some people process in a lot of different ways. And so, my encouragement would be to process in your own way and let that be OK, however you need to go through the journey,” he told iHeartCountry.

“Parkinson's disease, of course, we know it's the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world, and unfortunately, it's only becoming more common,” Wiggins said. “Oftentimes, when I'm first diagnosing someone with Parkinson's disease, they oftentimes think that their life is over. But my strong encouragement is it's not over. Life may be different, but it's certainly not over. And the reason is because there are so many treatments, there's so many therapies, so many ways we can try to address the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. I'm right there with Kimberly, saying that I have so much hope for the future. I think the next five to 10 years will just be a wonderful time for people who have Parkinson's and that there will be more and more research trials, there'll be more treatments. ...I have heard it said that if you're going to have Parkinson's disease, today is the day to have it because there are so many new things coming out. And so I try to leave all my patients encouraged and hopeful and that's not just a show. I really truly believe that there's much hope and optimism in this realm.”

Schlapman acknowledged that it’s “a scary diagnosis,” and appreciated Wiggins’ hopeful and encouraging outlook for his patients. “I'm so happy to be here just to bring more attention to this disease [at the World Parkinson’s Congress]. And the research that is just exploding out there is so exciting, and I'm here for my mama.”

Bringing People Together Through Music: ‘Music Is Healing’

Wiggins pointed out that some people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers choose to process their journey with music. Later in their conversation with iHeartCountry, Schlapman spoke about her experience with music as an artist in award-winning group, Little Big Town. The band — which also includes Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook — recently announced their 12th studio album, It’s A Dying Art. So far, they’ve released “Hey There Sunshine” and “Over And Over” from the 13-track project. Little Big Town marked the album announcement with a pop-up show in Nashville, Tennessee, featuring surprise guest Miranda Lambert. The band later returned the favor, appearing as a surprise guest at Lambert’s performance at the Music City Rodeo.

“That song is such a gift, and I think the timing of it is so important right now because the world just needs to be lifted up and caregivers need to be lifted up,” Schlapman said of “Hey There Sunshine.” “I think that's a message directly to caregivers and people living with major challenges in their life. And I'm just happy. I think music is healing. We all know that and I hope that that song gives hope and encouragement to people everywhere. And I do think that music is so important. My sister is a music therapist, and I've watched her work and I've watched the power of music just change people and be such a huge part of their healing. And we see it every night in shows. We see people who come in that need an escape from what's going on in their everyday lives. And by the end of the show they've got their arms in the air and they feel a release and just being part of that kind of encouragement means the world to us.” — Wiggins added that sometimes, people don’t know how much they need to connect with others or express emotion until they have the opportunity at a Little Big Town concert, for example — “And same for us. It's a release for us too. It's encouragement to us as well.

“We got more to come, so we're very excited about that,” Schlapman said. “We're going to be on the road all summer and all fall, and we love it out there making music with our fans. And so, it's going to be a good one.”

Mike Klein