UMass Amherst: SPHHS Faculty Members Share Research Findings at World Parkinson Congress International Forum in Spain
UMass Amherst speech, language and hearing sciences faculty members Sara Mamo and Lisa Sommers presented their research on the impact of hearing loss on people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners at the Sixth World Parkinson Congress (WPC), held July 4–7 in Barcelona, Spain.
The triennial congress provides an international forum for basic scientists, clinical researchers, health care professionals, people with Parkinson’s and others to come together under one roof to discuss, learn, and engage in debate around the latest scientific discoveries, medical and comprehensive care practices related to Parkinson’s disease.
Mamo, an assistant professor, and Sommers, a clinical associate professor and clinical director of the Center of Language Speech and Hearing, presented a poster on a study examining the impact of hearing loss on people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners. Given the high prevalence of hearing loss in adults over age 70, and the reluctance to address this, it is often the case that both people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners have untreated hearing loss. The combination results in significant relationship stress and poor quality of life.
In their research, they note the lack of both research and evidence-based clinical service delivery by allied health professionals that focuses on this complex intersection of deficits. They have developed an innovative communication toolkit that focuses on communication strategies and the hearing needs of this dyad, and includes in-person and virtual sessions led by an audiologist, a speech-language pathologist and audiology and speech-language pathology graduate student clinicians. The aim of their study is to establish the efficacy of this person-centered approach and to develop a user-friendly communication toolkit that could be provided to people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners as an entry point for mitigating these challenges.
Unlike other scientific congresses, the World Parkinson Congress brings together all members of the Parkinson’s community. As an inclusive event, the WPC was founded on “the belief that getting world leaders out of their professional silos and forcing a cross pollination of the scientific, clinical, rehabilitation, and advocacy communities would expedite the discovery of a cure and cultivate best treatment practices for this devastating disease.”