It was a Parkinson's Disease defensive posture to prevent her hand from rolling pills.
Bingo.
Your quote: It was a Parkinson’s Disease defensive posture to prevent her hand from rolling pills.
***
Sounds good as she never looked back at the notes.
YouTube video on them for those interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e532YW-Zwf0
is that actually an exercise Parkinson’s patients do?