Kate, in an ideal world its difficult to argue against anything you said! However for many young pwp, they dont live in an ideal world! They have full time jobs, a young family and all the normal demands of busy modern life. So they might not get time for the type of support networking your eluding to? Nor have lots of spare time to become experts on all the different types of PD medication and side effects!
In my opinion its the role of ALL Doctors and the Pharmaceutical industry to make pwp fully aware of the side effects, as well as the benefits of the drugs we take. Once every doctor does this consistantly and the drug companies stop fudging OCD side effects in there info leaflets, then whatever support networks pwp attend are a bonus.
At present its like building a house on field full of quicksand? Because far to often pwp end up taking all the responsibly for managing the medication because their doctor or drug company have failed to properly inform them of side effects in the first place.