Exploring the Perceptions of Voice-Assisted Technology as a Tool for Speech and Voice Difficulties: Focus Group Study Among People With Parkinson Disease and Their Carers.
Jodie Mills, Orla Duffy, Katy Pedlow and 1 others
PMID 40669073WHAT IT FOUND
People with Parkinson disease described using smart speakers as prompting them to speak louder and clearer to be understood.
While this mimics speech therapy goals, participants reported frustration with device errors and distrust of privacy, suggesting technology alone is not a substitute for human therapy.
Key findings
01Participants reported that interacting with voice-assisted technology caused them to use adaptive strategies, such as increasing volume and slowing their pace, to ensure the device understood them.
02Carers viewed the technology as a potential communication partner that could help rebuild confidence in using their voice, though they also highlighted the lack of a therapeutic relationship as a barrier.
03Significant barriers to adoption included distrust of data privacy, frustration with devices timing out or failing to recognize speech, and a lack of knowledge about how to use the technology therapeutically.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (15 participants) and recruited exclusively from Northern Ireland, limiting generalizability. All participants were White, so the findings may not reflect experiences of people from diverse cultural or ethnic backgrounds. Participants were self-selected and already using VAT, meaning they likely had better digital skills and more positive attitudes than the general Parkinson population. The study reports perceptions and experiences, not clinical outcomes or measured changes in speech intelligibility.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was part of a PhD project with ethical approval from Ulster University. Patient and public involvement representatives helped design the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this study as evidence that voice-assisted technology is an effective or standalone treatment for Parkinson disease speech difficulties. The findings are based on the subjective perceptions of a small, self-selected group of users who already owned and used the devices. The paper explicitly notes that devices often fail to recognize dysarthric speech and that generalization to real-life conversation is uncertain.