MJFF Guide Spotlights Parkinson’s Caregiver Gaps, Design Opportunities for Firms like Jacobs Solutions

Guide for Parkinson’s care partners spotlights gaps in built and service environments relevant to engineering firms

The Michael J. Fox Foundation releases a digital guide, Facing Parkinson's Together, that highlights the sustained and intensive demands placed on care partners and signals opportunities for companies that design health and community infrastructure. The guide, published Feb. 20, 2026, synthesizes clinical, psychosocial and lived-experience guidance for spouses, adult children and others who provide long-term support to people with Parkinson’s, noting care partners provide an average of 31 hours of care per week and that 50% of those employed full time report work disruptions. The foundation frames the resource as an entry point to trusted information, research participation and peer support, and plans ongoing outreach and companion materials.

For engineering and professional services firms such as Jacobs Solutions, the guide underscores a widening need for environments and systems that reduce caregiver burden and enable continuity of care. Firms that design hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care and community health hubs can respond by integrating adaptable spaces for respite care, telehealth-capable clinic rooms, wayfinding and accessibility improvements, and family-centered workflows that reduce time spent on logistics. The guide’s emphasis on flexible, on-demand information and remote support also points to infrastructure investments in digital platforms, broadband access in community settings, and workplace design that accommodates employees with caregiving responsibilities.

The MJFF resource also signals demand for life-sciences and clinical trial infrastructure that facilitates participation by people with Parkinson’s and their care partners. By improving site accessibility, scheduling flexibility and in-home monitoring capabilities, engineering and consulting firms can help sponsors and health systems expand recruitment and retention in research while supporting practical needs identified by the guide. The combination of psychosocial guidance and calls for connection to services creates openings for public–private partnerships, where firms that build and operate health facilities collaborate with patient organizations to pilot models of integrated care and caregiver support.

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The MJFF guide is available for free download at michaeljfox.org/carepartners and the foundation encourages care partners to use it to connect with clinical trials, webinars and peer networks that can inform facility planning and service models in health systems.