Speaking voice is an area of concern for many individuals with Parkinson’s Disease since being able to communicate makes a real difference in our daily quality of life. People with PD often experience softer voices and find it harder to talk to others, potentially leading to self-isolation and to lose of desire to attempt communicating with people around them. In this AMTA-Pro podcast, our MT-BC colleague Sarah Swann Solberg discusses some of these issues and overviews her research about the impact of music therapy interventions on improving the speaking voice of individuals with PD. Susan recommends continued research because of the potential significance on the quality of lives of over 10 million people worldwide currently diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.


Music Therapy and the Speaking Voice in Parkinson’s Disease

AMTA-Pro Podcast ~ July, 2020

Sarah Swann Solberg, MMT, MT-BC

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According to the National Institute of Health (2010), nearly 500,000 people in the United States have PD with 70%-100% of people diagnosed with PD experience voice changes (ASHA, 2018). Speaking voice is an area of concern for many individuals with Parkinson’s Disease since being able to communicate makes a real difference in our daily quality of life. People with PD often experience softer voices and find it harder to talk to others, potentially leading to self-isolation and to lose of desire to attempt communicating with people around them. 

The ​purpose of this research was to explore the impact of individual Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) sessions on speaking voice and quality of life in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD).  Individuals with PD have significantly decreased laryngeal functioning (Smith et al., 1995). Neurologic music therapy techniques have demonstrated the unique ability of music-based interventions to improve maximum phonation time, voice quality, and articulatory control in people with PD (Azekawa, & LaGasse, 2018). Improved communication in people with PD has been shown to improve daily quality of life and increase effective communication (Elefant, Baker, de Lotan, Lagesen, and Skeie, 2012). The dependent measures for this study were acoustic, perceptual, and quality of life metrics related to speaking voice. Data collection of acoustic measures and self-report measures were recorded before and after the 6-week NMT intervention protocol. In this podcast, Susan overviews the results of her research about music therapy interventions on improving the speaking voice of individuals with PD, and she recommends continued research because of the potential significance on the quality of lives of over 10 million people worldwide currently diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

This research aligns with the following goals of the Music Therapy Research 2025 initiative:
o Define and describe the intervention using accepted standards of specification in published research and as part of research planning. When planning a research study, the music therapy intervention needs to be identified and specified by intervention and not just by the term “music therapy.”
o Conduct music therapy studies that focus on specific interventions for specific diagnoses/conditions. Numerous past published studies have commingled populations and conditions, especially in group music therapy settings.
o Partner with the health sciences field to conduct research, encourage team science, and secure lines of funding.

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About the AMTA-Pro Podcast Speaker

Sarah Swann Solberg, MMT, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist who received her bachelor’s degree in music from the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College and completed both the Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Master of Music Therapy degrees at Appalachian State University. She completed her internship in music therapy at Park Nicollet Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sarah has a particular interest in treating voice disorders that result from Parkinson’s disease and stroke and completed a thesis entitled “Neurologic Music Therapy to Improve Speaking Voice in Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: A Multiple Case Study.” She is music therapist for Medi-Home Hospice in Watauga and Ashe Counties, NC.