Neighbor News
Parkinson Voice Project awards grant to Northern Dutchess Hospital
Northern Dutchess Hospital will receive supplies and training to enhance speech therapy offerings for people with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson Voice Project has named Northern Dutchess Hospital as a recipient of its 2022 SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd® grant program. Through the grant, Northern Dutchess Hospital will receive supplies and training to support its Parkinson’s disease speech therapy program.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive movement disorder and the second most common neurodegenerative disease. About 60 thousand people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year in the United States and 10 million people are living with it worldwide.
Nearly 90 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease experience speech and voice disorders, which may make them less likely to participate in conversations or have confidence in social settings.
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People with Parkinson’s disease often experience swallowing difficulty, called dysphagia. Dysphagia can cause dehydration, malnutrition and aspiration, which is when food or liquid enters the airway or lungs by accident. Aspiration pneumonia is the leading cause of death in people with Parkinson’s disease.
“For people with Parkinson’s disease, trouble communicating can be very frustrating and lead to isolation. Trouble swallowing can lead to additional medical problems that can be life-threatening,” said Rosemary Griffin, MA, CCC-SLP, director of speech pathology at Nuvance Health’s Northern Dutchess Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
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“We want people with Parkinson’s disease in the Rhinebeck area to know we understand these concerns and are here from them. Our skilled speech-language pathologists can help them maintain their independence and quality of life as much as possible through speech, swallowing and cognitive-linguistic therapy,” said Griffin.
“We sincerely thank Parkinson Voice Project for supporting Northern Dutchess Hospital’s comprehensive Parkinson’s disease therapy program. Patients will benefit from the grant through supplies and staff training to treat their speech, voice and swallowing changes associated with Parkinson’s disease,” said Griffin.
Parkinson Voice Project is the only nonprofit organization in the world solely dedicated to helping individuals with Parkinson’s disease to improve their speech and swallowing. Parkinson Voice Project has trained more than 3,500 speech-language pathologists through its worldwide SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd program.
Learn more about Nuvance Health’s speech therapy and request an appointment.
CONTACT
Amy Forni, Director of External Communications
O: (203) 739-7478 | M: (475) 279-4673 | Amy.Forni@nuvancehealth.org
About Nuvance Health
Nuvance Health is a system of award-winning nonprofit hospitals and outpatient healthcare services throughout the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut, including: Danbury Hospital and its New Milford campus, Norwalk Hospital and Sharon Hospital in Connecticut; Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in New York.
Nuvance Health offers the latest prevention, diagnostic, medical, surgical and rehabilitation services, including through the Cancer, Heart & Vascular and Neuroscience Institutes; and primary and specialty care services through Nuvance Health Medical Practices. Nuvance Health also provides convenient healthcare through home care, urgent care and telehealth visits.
Visit nuvancehealth.org for more information. TTY: 1-800-421-1220
