Grant awarded to Andrews University will help therapy program for Parkinson's patients

 by Caroline Torie, WSBT 22 Reporter       July 12th 2019

Andrews University just got a grant that could help you or your loved one.

It’s going toward expanding a therapy program for Parkinson’s patients at its School of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Therapy will help patients improve speaking and swallowing functions. Those elements are especially important to monitor for those with Parkinson’s, because 9 out of 10 diagnosed will see those problems.

The therapy soon expanding to Andrews University will help patients retrain their brain, shifting what used to be automatic to intentional and habitual.

The University has had an on-site speech clinic for a while, but there was a cost to patients. Now, this grant from Parkinson Voice Project is allowing patients to take advantage of this therapy for free.

Speech Language Pathologists and graduate students at Andrews will lead individual therapy called "SPEAK OUT!" It runs for 12 sessions, three times a week.

After that's complete, patients have the opportunity to do group therapy called "LOUD crowd" once a week.

In individual and group therapy, patients will work through a series of vocal warm-ups and exercises. They’ll also try reading, conversational and cognitive activities.

Therapy is expected to help patients speak in their best voice possible. It could also help prevent Aspiration Pneumonia, potentially happening after food or liquid goes down the wrong pipe. That’s significant, as it causes 70-percent of fatalities in Parkinson’s patients.

“They can do something. They have control of something. They have a choice every day where they can choose to do these exercises. That will help preserve their voice and their swallowing, or they can choose not to. But it something within Parkinson’s that they have control over,” said Jenica Joseph, Andrews University Speech Language Pathologist.

If you’ve noticed someone you know with Parkinson’s has to repeat frequently, their vocal quality has deteriorated, their volume is lower and their voice is more hoarse, or they are having problems swallowing, Joseph encourages you to give her department a call. If you are interested in the program you can contact her directly by email jenicaj@andrews.edu or call the department at 269-471-3468.

The first individual therapy sessions will get started in September.

Joseph hopes a Parkinson’s choir called "SING OUT!" can be started at some point in the near future.

https://wsbt.com/news/local/grant-awarded-to-andrews-university-will-help-therapy-program-for-parkinsons-patients