new parkc phd student

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Do you have Parkinson’s and have difficulty with conversations? 

OR

Do you frequently converse with someone who has Parkinson’s and have difficulties with conversations?

We are seeking people with this background to join us for a series of 6 x 1.5 hour groups. In the group we will work together to plan a therapy approach to help people with Parkinson’s and the people are close to have more effective conversations. You don’t need to have any special knowledge about speech pathology to be part of our group. Your own experiences with Parkinson’s is what we are looking for. 

To join our group you should either: 

1) Have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s and have some trouble communicating. Your communication challenges might be fairly mild or be quite challenging.  

2) Be someone who regularly has conversations with someone who has Parkinson’s and communication difficulties e.g. more than three conversations a week. For example, you might be a family member or a close friend.  

We are seeking people who are interested in finding solutions to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s and their families. Some examples of the things we will be asking people to talk about: 

• What makes it hard for you to have conversations? 

• What supports you to have conversations? 

• What research tells us about what helps conversations in Parkinson’s and in other conditions which impact communication? 

• What makes an appropriate therapy for people with Parkinson’s and their families? 

When the groups have finished, we will have decided on a plan for therapy to help people have conversations. Later the researchers will further develop these ideas and test them out.

The groups will take place at Parkinson’s WA, The Niche, 11 Aberdare Rd, Nedlands, WA 6009. 

They will take place fortnightly from the 26th July- 4th October, 2022. You will be paid an honorarium for your time.

 If you are interested in taking part, please email Naomi at naomi.cocks@curtin.edu.au or phone Naomi on 9266 2466 

ParkC has just recently published a study in the Journal of Applied Nursing. Emilie (pictured) conducted her Honours in speech pathology with ParkC. Emilie's study examined the communication strategies used by Parkinson's nurse specialists in their healthcare interactions with people with Parkinson's. Emilie conducted extensive interviews with Parkinson's nurse specialists, asking them about the strategies they use to support communication during healthcare interactions, the factors influencing the use of communication strategies, and how they learned to communicate effectively with people with Parkinson's. 

The study found that the following factors were important to good communication between nurse and client during healthcare interactions;  (i) establishing a strong therapeutic relationship with the person, (ii) involving the communication partner (typically a spouse), (iii) reducing the cognitive demands of the interaction, (iv) ensuring two-way understanding,  and (v) enabling expressive communication for people with Parkinson's. Learning through others, learning through experience, and learning through education and research were considered important parts of becoming a skilled healthcare communicator when working with people with Parkinson's . If you would like to read this article, please email Andrea at Andrea.loftus@curtin.edu.au to request a copy. 

Phoebe is a speech pathology student doing her honours project with ParkC, looking at the assessment of drooling in people with Parkinson’s. 

 Drooling is a non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s and is typically assessed using one-off self reports, but they may not be the best way to measure drooling issues. Phoebe’s study examines different ways to assess drooling in those with Parkinson’s. Phoebe’s study will help us to develop effective measures of drooling for everyone with Parkinson’s and identify those people who might benefit from intervention. If you take part in this study, yourself and an ‘informant’ (a family member, carer, or someone who knows you well) will be asked to complete some questionnaires and a drooling diary. You can do this online, over the phone, or in the post. For more information about the study, please visit the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Drooling-in-Parkinsons-Survey-103023371938774. Otherwise you can contact Phoebe by calling  0426 231 603  or by emailing her at: phoebe.hu-collins@student.curtin.edu.au