Inova Mount Vernon Hospital Receives Grant to Expand Its Speech Therapy Program
Parkinson Voice Project’s 2022 SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd® Grant Program offers specialized training in the evaluation and treatment of voice disorders related to Parkinson’s disease.
Alexandria, VA – Inova Mount Vernon Hospital (IMVH) has been awarded the Parkinson Voice Project’s 2022 SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd grant, further expanding services to its Parkinson’s and movement disorders patients.
Parkinson Voice Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the voices of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, awards grants to more than 400 recipients annually.
With the grant, IMVH will receive free SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd training for its speech-language pathologists. Additionally, the hospital will receive speech therapy supplies and funding for its LOUD Crowd groups.
“Up to 90 percent of people with Parkinson’s are at risk of losing their ability to speak. In addition, swallowing complications account for 70 percent of the mortality rate in this patient population. Our vision at Parkinson Voice Project is to make quality speech therapy accessible to people with Parkinson’s worldwide,” said Samantha Elandary, Parkinson Voice Project’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
The program works by combining individual and group therapy. SPEAK OUT! is an individual speech therapy program that combines speech, voice and cognitive exercises. It involves 12 sessions, each 45 minutes in length, given over 4 weeks.
After a six-week follow-up, the SPEAK OUT! graduates join a LOUD Crowd group communication class. The LOUD Crowd portion of the program is designed to provide education and accountability through weekly group sessions as individuals with Parkinson’s continue their “speaking with intent” journey.
“Inova Rehabilitation Services is part of the comprehensive and integrated care Inova offers patients as they move from diagnosis to treatment,” said Drew Falconer, MD, Medical Director, Inova Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center. “This specialized type of therapy allows people with Parkinson’s to retrain their bodies to work, move and sound better.”
“The SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowdprogram is an additional tool in our inventory of unique programs offered to patients in need of speech therapy,” said Katie Holtzman, MA, CCC-SLP, who applied and won the grant for the hospital. “We look forward to continuing our mission of helping patients regain their voices so that they will have the confidence and satisfaction of participating in activities they may have thought were no longer possible.”
To make an appointment, call 703-664-7190 and select option 2. A referral is required to initiate an evaluation.
