Big & Loud Therapy Program 

The BIG & LOUD physical therapy program at Guthrie County Hospital is helping patients with Parkinson’s disease improve function and slow motor deterioration by retraining sensory, motor, and cognitive functions through intensive exercise and patient empowerment.

The BIG therapy program is a standardized exercise approach developed from 20 years of research and has shown documented improvements in balance, trunk rotation and faster walking with bigger steps. The program trains patients to make bigger movements and teaches the amount of effort required to produce normal movements in real world, everyday activities. 

Along with the BIG therapy program, the LOUD program is offered by speech therapist at Guthrie County Hospital. Because it is common that individuals with Parkinson’s disease have difficulty being loud enough for people to hear, run out of air when talking, and avoid groups of people/conversations because of their voice, the LOUD program strives to increase patient’s success with communication by improving the patient’s voice and speech function.

The LOUD program is designed to increase the loudness of one’s voice and improve speech clarity through repetitive tasks with varying complexity that lead to carryover in all daily tasks upon completion of this program. 

The BIG and LOUD therapy programs are offered through the Rehab Services Department at Guthrie County Hospital. Talk to your doctor for a referral if you think you or a family member may benefit from these programs.