Speech therapy apps to be developed

New apps could help people with Parkinson’s and speech difficulties to be more easily understood. Speech problems affect nearly three-quarters of people with Parkinson’s, and can have a profound impact on their quality of life.

Dr Roger Eglin, of the University of Portsmouth, has been awarded a £35,000 innovation grant from Parkinson’s UK to develop technology to train and encourage users to speak more loudly, and to calculate the effect of background noise on speech, allowing people to compensate accordingly.

Researchers suggest that apps could also be used by healthcare professionals to monitor people with Parkinson’s remotely, making speech therapy cheaper and more accessible.

Dr Eglin said: “Many people with Parkinson’s already have and use mobile phones, making them a low-cost, simple and effective way for helping people improve their own speech.
 
“We’ve already developed a basic mobile phone application to improve speech, but it needs to be further improved and tailored specifically for people with Parkinson’s.
We will be testing our application with people with Parkinson’s at every stage of development to make sure it is effective and easy to use.

“If we’re successful, we hope to develop useful mobile phone based applications which can help people with Parkinson’s who experience speech difficulties – helping them to communicate better with their families and friends and increasing their confidence in social situations.”

Dr Kieran Breen, director of research and innovation at Parkinson’s UK said: “We’re delighted to be funding Dr Eglin’s new research. Speech problems affect around 70% of people with Parkinson’s. This can make everyday things much more difficult, and can have a profound impact on their quality of life. 
 
“Speech therapy can help, but speech therapists have limited time and resources, so simple mobile phone applications that people can use in their everyday life offer exciting potential to help tackle speech problems. This is just the kind of innovative research we’re keen to support.”