Date of Award

4-21-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Communication Disorders, MCD

First Advisor

Amy Shollenbarger

Committee Members

Christina Akbari; Rashele Wade; Shanon Brantley

Abstract

This phenomenological qualitative study aims to explore the perspectives of caregivers of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) participating in the SPEAK OUT!® program and to assess its potential to alleviate some aspects of caregiver burden. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with six caregivers. These results highlighted overarching themes of program benefits, caregiver challenges, and caregiver rewards while expressing challenges with the program. Caregivers mentioned that the participants had challenges with inconsistent practice and resistance to applying the skills they learned from the program daily. While caregivers did perceive benefits and no adverse changes due to the SPEAK OUT!® program, some caregivers saw some hindrances in its effectiveness. The outcomes of this study analyze relationships between caregivers and the individual they care for, their perspective of the program, and the dynamics being a caregiver plays into their perceptions.

Rights Management

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.