Better Conversations with Parkinson's

What is Parkinson’s?

Parkinson’s is a disease caused by a loss of nerve cells in the brain. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine in the brain. Dopamine plays a vital role in controlling how our bodies move. Parkinson’s can affect voice, speech and thinking. As a result, taking part in everyday conversations can become difficult.

Who is this resource for?

This resource is for speech and language therapists working with people living with Parkinson’s. Using this resource, speech and language therapists can help the person living with Parkinson’s, and their conversation partners, to develop lifelong skills that enable them have better conversations. A conversation partner could be the person’s spouse or life-partner, adult child or close friend.

What’s in the resource?

It comprises the BCP intervention programme with session plans and handouts for speech and language therapists/pathologists to deliver.  The BCP resource is under development.  A preliminary version will be released in 2024. However on the BCP website you can find information for people living with Parkinson’s and more about Better Conversations.  On the BC Downloads webpage you can find some of our materials.

What’s the evidence?

A chapter describing the Better Conversations therapy intervention for someone living with Parkinson’s can be found in: Bloch, S. & Beeke S. (2022) A Better Conversations approach for people living with dysarthria, in Walshe, M. and Miller, N. (eds) Clinical Cases in Acquired Dysarthria, pp. 117-127.  Routledge.

A formal protocol for the BCP feasibility study is also available: Clay P, Beeke S, Volkmer A, Dangerfield L, Bloch S. A Communication Partner Training Program Delivered via Telehealth for People Living With Parkinson's (Better Conversations With Parkinson's): Protocol for a Feasibility Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Feb 3;12:e41416. doi: 10.2196/41416. PMID: 36735301; PMCID: PMC9938441.