Big and Loud Program Changes Patients’ Lives

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A unique program at Essentia Health St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes is improving the quality of life of many patients.

The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment BIG® and Lee Silverman Voice Treatment LOUD® programs help people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.

“I guess I don’t speak loud enough sometimes,” says Shirley.

This was Shirley, one of the LSVT BIG® and LSVT LOUD® program’s clients, on her first day of the four-day-a-week, four-week rehab therapy course.

She was a part of the LSVT LOUD® program, which focuses on improving communication.

“The goal is to work with people to have them use their louder voice in every day. So we do a bunch of vocal exercises at high intensity,” says Speech Language Pathologist Kia Alton.

Alton helps patients like Shirley by using advanced tools like this one.

“That’s the ideal volume you want. Down here in this yellow it’s too soft and red is too loud. So the phrase will pop up. How are you?” Alton explains.

Many people with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s don’t realize that their speech clarity and loudness levels have worsened. This program makes them self-aware.

“Some individuals couldn’t answer the phone at work so they had to hire a secretary to do it or they couldn’t give presentations at work,” Alton says.

On the other side, there is the LSVT BIG® portion of the program. Patients are trained to make bigger movements that will help them do what were once basic things such as walk up a set of stairs or put on clothes by themselves.

“I model really big over-the-top movements with my arms, with my legs, even with my core and I shape them and give them a little bit of cuing. But the main point is you want to move bigger than you think you have to,” says Occupational Therapist Elizabeth Peterson.

And by the end of the four weeks, these therapists have witnessed some amazing changes.

“I blend in a little bit better with the crowd, I’m more confident. It’s those success stories that they bring back to us that really makes it worthwhile and we know that we made a difference in their lives,” Peterson says.

And these changes are evident in a much happier, more confident Shirley.

“I talk louder and I think louder,” says Shirley.

To learn more about this program, you can visit www.lsvtglobal.com.

Additionally, other contact information is:

Email: info@lsvtglobal.com
Phone: 1-888-438-5788
Fax: 1-520-867-8839