How do you decide what to catalogue and review?

We have a set of clear and simple criteria, based on tech that’s aimed at people with Parkinson’s. We do not ask for or accept payment to include anything.

Our catalogue

The Tech Guide is at the beginning of its journey. So we’ve set a (hopefully) clear and simple way of deciding whether or not something belongs in our catalogue.

To be included, a product meet all of these three conditions.

• It must be available in the UK directly by people with Parkinson’s.
• It must be marketed as helping with specific symptoms of Parkinson’s.
• It must involve the specific application of digital technology (hardware or software).

This may well expand over time. But, for now, it means that (for example) we don’t include devices that are aimed at doctors, or anything you need a doctor’s prescription to use. It means that we don’t include products on the open market that may be very useful to people with Parkinson’s, but that aren’t specifically intended to help with the condition.

Our Panel reviews

We can’t review everything all at once, so we have to choose which products in the catalogue to pass to our panel for review first.

We do this based on the guidance of our Steering Group (see more about how we govern the Tech Guide here), but also on feedback from the community. Products that are often talked about in Local Groups, or about which we get lots of calls to the Helpline, are likely to be reviewed sooner. Products that are based on solid scientific evidence are also likely to be reviewed earlier. (But note that having a Panel review doesn’t mean that they’re scientifically proven.)

We never ask for or accept payment to review a product sooner, nor to be more positive about a product. The content of the Panel review we publish is based entirely on what the panel themselves told us.

Important note

We do not ask for payment to include anything in the catalogue. And we do not accept payment if offered, either. We don’t get paid when we review a product, and we don’t accept payment to change what we say about a product.

We have a full explanation about how we remain independent and impartial. But the core is this: the Tech Guide exists for people with Parkinson’s. So, although we may work closely with scientists, developers and manufacturers, we let the lived experience of people with Parkinson’s guide everything we do.