West Chester University: West Chester University Professor Awarded 2nd National Institutes Of Health (NIH) Grant ...

Press release from West Chester University:

November 2, 2021

Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders Liz Grillo is the first at West
Chester University (WCU) to receive two grants from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), which total $797,000, for groundbreaking research on an innovative method of
vocal health delivery ---- telepractice. Emerging as a critical mode of health delivery
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, telepractice focuses on the delivery of speech-language
pathology services at a distance, as well as the development of mobile apps that run
on Apple and Android smartphones to help people with voice problems. Behavioral voice
therapy delivered through telepractice, and as conducted by speech-language pathologists,
has rapidly grown to be the primary method to prevent and treat voice problems due
to social-distancing requirements prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing critical barriers in voice therapy, Professor Grillo’s research will result
in the development of a new voice app that people will be able to use multiple times
each day to practice healthy voice behaviors in their everyday lives. Voice therapy
concepts will also be tested in a clinical study designed to improve knowledge about
concepts that facilitate client-centered outcomes for prevention and treatment of
voice problems. Students studying to be teachers at WCU and professional teachers
with voice complaints in southeastern Pennsylvania will be recruited to participate
in the clinical study.

As vocal athletes, teachers are perfect examples of how telepractice can be used effectively.
Estimates indicate that 60% of teachers, who depend upon their voice for work, are
regularly affected by voice problems. This phenomenon leads to increased costs to
the healthcare system and negative effects on students’ learning abilities in the
classroom. A new effect has resulted. With the ongoing pandemic, teachers in schools
are now required to wear face masks, which is putting an additional strain on the
voice system.

Teachers, however, are not alone.  Voice problems are a significant public health
concern affecting 3-9% (9-29 million) of the U.S population by limiting a person’s
ability to participate in society with an economic burden of $11 billion annually.

“Voice, one aspect of communication, is defined by vocal quality, pitch, loudness,
and resonance of the acoustic signal,” says Professor Grillo, who is a renowned speech-language
pathologist with clinical expertise in voice disorders and medical speech-language
pathology.  “Telepractice targets people’s needs in the environment, reduces costs,
and improves access to services. To date and in real-time, videoconferencing has been
the focus of most telepractice research with information that is stored and accessed
later via mobile apps being used only minimally.”

As Professor Grillo’s second NIH grant dedicated to the study of telepractice, this
three-year research initiative totals $387,148 (September 15, 2021-August 31, 20244).
Throughout the grant-funded project, Professor Grillo will work closely with student
research assistants in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the
College of Health Sciences at West Chester University.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.