A Case Study: The Effects of the “SPEAK OUT! ®” Voice Program for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neuro-degenerative disorder that commonly affects bodily movements and speech. To date, clinical management for speech issues with PD has focused primarily on “one-on-one” individual therapy to remediate the severely reduced volume of speech. The subjective aspects of speech, particularly the perception of voice-related quality of life, may improve through social interactions with fellow patients experienced with group therapy. The present case study examined the effect of voice remediation methods for PD that offer individual and group therapy components, namely SPEAK OUT!® and LOUD Crowd® programs, by objectively and perceptually measuring the participants’ vocal performance at different phases of the therapy. The acoustic analyses of the participants’ voices revealed significant improvements as well as self-reported perceptual scores for the physiological dimension of Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL). The socialemotional dimension of V-RQOL, however, did not demonstrate significant improvement over time.