New digital therapeutic set to transform Parkinson’s speech therapy in Offaly

Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) in Laois/Offaly have been piloting Teleatherapy’s innovative solution to aid providing speech therapy to people with Parkinson’s Disease through the Health Innovation Hub Ireland.

In early 2023, HSE SLTs began trialling Teleatherapy with their clients with Parkinson’s disease. Teleatherapy is a platform which allows SLTs to prescribe therapy exercises to clients and monitor their progress. Clients use the Teleatherapy app to guide them through their therapy and measure their speech over time.

Aoife Carolan, SLT Lead on the pilot at CHO8, has been on board since 2022 to help trial Teleatherapy in her department. Aoife was excited at the opportunity to bring innovation to CHO8 and when asked about using Teleatherapy to date, she said “I have noticed that clients are more motivated to practise consistently as they know their HSE clinician is monitoring the quantity, quality and frequency of their practice at home – with obvious results evident in terms of their speech function and less need for face to face routine reviews''. It also helps with therapists’ caseload management “There is good potential for waiting list reduction with an initiative of this nature. It also means there is more time during face to face sessions to focus on more complex or bespoke issues, outside of the daily therapy which we now know is being completed well and consistently with the aid of this app and the feedback it gives us.”

Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) works with a number of companies each year to trial their innovations in the HSE. Dr.Tanya Mulcahy Director of HIHI explains “This pilot has not only demonstrated the value of the Teleatherapy voice therapy to patients but has also identified how the on-line platform provides added benefits to patients, their carers and healthcare staff. This is a great Irish product with the potential to impact Parkinson’s patients globally”.

Clare Meskill, CEO and co-founder of Teleatherapy, founded the company in 2020. When discussing the pilot with CHO8 to date, Clare said “It’s great to be collaborating with SLTs in the HSE, to build and improve the platform as we learn together. Their enthusiasm and dedication has been fantastic. We at Teleatherapy are really grateful to both the SLTs and the HIHI”.