Stockton University to provide SPEAK OUT! voice therapy in NJ
$50,000 grant covers training for faculty and students, free therapy for patients
A $50,000 grant will allow Stockton University to provide free SPEAK OUT! voice therapy to people in New Jersey with Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson Voice Project (PVP), which is providing the grant, designed the SPEAK OUT! program to help Parkinson’s patients with motor symptoms including low speech volume, slurred speech, and difficulty swallowing. A research-backed therapy regimen involving individual and group sessions and daily at-home practice, it’s designed to encourage conscious, deliberate speaking and swallowing.
“We try to reframe the way that [patients] do things, so when they’re swallowing, they’re focused on making it the best swallow it can be to prevent other medical issues from happening,” Kelly Maslanik, a clinical specialist in Stockton’s communication sciences and disorders, said in a university news story. Maslanik will run the program along with Michelle Swartz, PhD, an assistant professor at Stockton.
The program will be housed in Stockton’s speech and hearing clinic. SPEAK OUT! centers are in 28 states, including New York and Massachusetts, according to PVP.
“Parkinson Voice Project is proud to partner with Stockton University to help individuals with Parkinson’s across the state regain and retain their speech and swallowing abilities,” said Samantha Elandary, PVP’s founder and CEO.
SPEAK OUT! voice therapy targets muscles
Parkinson’s disease is caused by progressive degeneration of brain cells involved in controlling movement. The resulting muscle weakness often causes tremors and a shuffling gait, and can also lead to problems in speaking and swallowing.
The SPEAK OUT! program asks participants to intentionally engage muscles that control the mouth and voice. This can help create new pathways in the brain, bypassing cells damaged by the disease, PVP says.
“A lot of programs like this do treat Parkinson’s for speech and swallowing and you go in for a certain number of sessions and then that’s it,” said Swartz. “With this program, you don’t leave unless you choose to. There’s always practice. There are always eyes on them. There’s always someone there for support.”
Program participants receive educational materials as well as individual and group therapy. Practice at home is also an important part of the program, which offers daily videos to help guide these sessions.
The five-year grant covers training for Stockton students and faculty, and will allow anyone living with Parkinson’s in New Jersey to receive free SPEAK OUT! voice therapy at the center or online.
PVP said it chose Stockton to house the new center in part because of its location — it can serve patients in urban and rural areas — and the clinic’s ability to provide services in English and Spanish.
“In addition, their high interest in conducting and publishing longitudinal studies to assess treatment outcomes and the impact of the SPEAK OUT! Therapy Program on the social and emotional well-being of individuals with Parkinson’s was impressive,” Elandary said.
The new center will provide research and clinical opportunities for graduate students, PVP said.
“We want to make this a warm and wonderful place, not only for the patients, but for our students and for the community,” Maslanik said.
Maslanik and Swartz hope to start seeing patients this summer.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the Stockton Speech Clinic,” said Brent Arnold, PhD, dean of Stockton’s School of Health Sciences. “It truly elevates our ability to provide speech services to the citizens of New Jersey and expands our capability to prepare students for impactful careers.”
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