Speech and language therapy for people living with Parkinson's

Speech and language therapy provides treatment, support and care for people who have difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing.

Speech and language therapists provide specialist support to adults with communication difficulties resulting from medical conditions such as stroke, cancer, dementia and Parkinson’s.

Around 90% of people living with Parkinson's report some changes to their communication.

Difficulties can happen when having conversations with people close to you, or in particular when talking in groups.

Some people notice:

Reduced loudness
Loss of clarity
Monotony of sound and tone
Hoarseness and poor projection
‘stumbling’/ ‘slurring’ of speech, or a ‘stammer’
Difficulty finding words
Feeling slow to respond
Conversations become tiring
Non-speech symptoms (e.g. tremor, drooling) may also have an impact in conversations

Research shows that people with Parkinson’s and their family members or carers can gain very positive results from attending speech and language therapy.

People come with different priorities for therapy: you can talk with your speech and language therapist about what your goals for attending therapy are.

The Better Conversations with Parkinson's programme

Better Conversations with Parkinson's offers something different from other speech and language therapy approaches for people living with Parkinson's.

It aims to help you to have more enjoyable and succesful conversations, by working together with those you share conversations with. The focus is not on volume or intelligibility: it is on conversations as a whole.

The responsibility to have a successful conversation does not just lie with the person who has a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Instead, the person with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s and a family member or friend both work together to:

identify personal goals related to conversation
build on what they are already doing well, and
learn new skills that will help them to have more successful conversations
learn strategies that will support conversations with each other and with other people

Whilst taking part in this 6-week Better Conversations therapy programme, you will not work on goals or exercises related to volume and intelligibility. Instead, you will work on goals directly related to your interaction in conversations.

Who is it for?

Both... people with a diagnosis of Parkinson's

People who take part in the Better Conversations with Parkinson's programme may have previously worked on volume-based exercises, or may do so in the future. These will not be covered during this therapy programme to allow you the space and opportunity to practise skills related to communication and conversation more broadly. We aim to support you to build skills that will be valuable now and in the future, regardless of how clear or loud your speech is.

Better Conversations with Parkinson's may be particularly useful for you if:

You are experiencing changes to your communication as a result of Parkinson’s
You want to build your existing skills and make changes to your day to day conversations
You want to explore how to have successful interactions and have a more active role in conversations
You are hoping to feel more confident to go out socialising, or have conversations with friends or groups of people
Your speech and language therapist does not recommend volume-based exercises at this time, for example because changes you can make during exercises are unlikely to be maintained in day-to-day conversation
Focus on volume or clarity of speech creates feelings of pressure and you want to explore what others can also do to support you
You have a family member or friend who is able to work with you to support your communication

And... a family member or friend

Parkinson's can influence communication in lots of different ways. This has an impact on the person with a diagnosis, and those that they talk regularly with.

Family members and friends tell us that they are motivated to be involved in therapy to:

increase their knowledge about the communication of their family member/ friend
understand what they can do to help the conversation flow better
support their family member/ friend to take a more active role in the conversation
learn new 'tools' to help with communication
learn together how to make life that bit easier
make their family member/ friend feel more confident
make a difference to their family member/ friend
improve how effective the therapy will be
take note of skills and remember information that can be used in the future

Here is a speech and language therapist's perspective of the Better Conversations therapy approach:

If you feel that Better Conversations with Parkinson's is not the most appropriate therapy programme for you at this time, then please talk to your speech and language therapist about other options available for you. They will work together with you to help identify the most beneficial therapy approach.