CLEARLY! - A Clear/Loud Speech Game for Parkinson's Disease

Congratulations to Maura Philippone, Madeline Allen, Jesse Sanderson, and Adam Elfawal! This team of SGC students recently won Bronze at the International Serious Play Awards (Student, Healthcare / Medical Category) for their game CLEARLY! – A Clear/Loud Speech Game for Parkinson’s Disease.

The team describes the game as follows: People with Parkinson’s disease (PD), generally adults over age 50, often experience voice and speech disturbances that can make it difficult for others to understand them. Standard treatments involve repetitive exercises targeting speech clarity and loudness. However, some find these “boring,” limiting speech skill progress and transfer.

Rooted in evidence-based PD speech therapy, CLEARLY!, enables people with PD to strengthen their clear/loud speech skills through serious gameplay with communication partners, transforming their ability to communicate in their daily lives.

Speech-language pathologists can guide patients and caregivers in using this game for intentional, constructive practice to improve clear/loud speech skills. Players can practice both in speech therapy sessions and outside of clinical environments (e.g., at home or in the community), enriching connections with friends, family, and other communication partners (e.g., medical providers). Teams who collaborate and communicate effectively will collect the most cards and CLEARLY! win the game!