LSVT Coach (formerly LSVT Companion), Clinician Edition: Aim, Measure, Click – Data Done!
Documentation of treatment outcomes is essential to all aspects of our job as speech-language pathologists. Documentation provides, among other things:
- Knowledge of results for patients and clinicians
- Objective and subjective measures of change
- Evidence for achieving goals
One of the hallmarks of LSVT LOUD documentation is the objective measurement of acoustic data. Sound pressure level (loudness), frequency (pitch) and duration are all performance indicators we track over time. Challenges, however, exist to efficiently quantifying these objective measures within the confines of busy clinical practice. The LSVT Coach, Clinician Edition was designed to tackle this challenge and ease the objective data task for LSVT LOUD clinicians.
What is it?
The LSVT Coach is a one of a kind device for LSVT LOUD treatment. It consists of a software program paired with an external calibrated microphone that offers valid and reliable acoustic measurement of sound pressure level (SPL), frequency and duration. The data collection is specifically tailored to the LSVT LOUD protocol and offers automated data averaging for fast and efficient summary of treatment results.
Say goodbye to lost data, illegible numbers scribbled on paper, and excessive time spent post-session consolidating and averaging data.
LSVT Coach: An effective and reliable device.
A software validation study revealed the LSVT Coach produces valid and reliable results. The average difference between the LSVT Coach and a Type 1 sound level meter (highest quality available) for decibels of sound pressure level was 1.0 dB SPL. The average difference between the LSVT Coach and a calibrated frequency meter was less than 2 Hertz. These findings are consistent with our published research using an earlier version of the LSVT Coach, and we have maintained these high calibration standards to date.
Why is this important? Calibrated, sound pressure level is tricky to measure accurately and normally requires very expensive, dedicated instruments. Using unclassed sound level meters or loudness apps may provide inaccurate and inconsistent results. This makes evaluating your patients and measuring clinical progress over time very difficult.
What computers does the LSVT Coach work with?
The system is PC based only at this time and is not compatible with iPads, tablets, or smart phones. Due to the technical requirements of an externally calibrated USB microphone, this is the current operating configuration. It can work successfully on minimum PC requirements of
- Windows Based platforms
- Microsoft® Compatible 1GHz Pentium Class Computer with 512 Mb RAM
- Windows® 7, Windows® 8, Windows® 10 operating systems
- Microsoft Excel
How does it compare with standard clinical equipment?
The LSVT Coach was designed to be purposefully simplistic. It was developed to focus on key features of LSVT LOUD treatment without functions that are not clinically useful. No other program auto calculates data specifically for LSVT LOUD treatment and presents these data in summary Excel spreadsheets.
What support is available?
Our goal is that you use the LSVT Coach to its fullest potential. Towards that end, we offer:
It’s the only speech treatment system for Parkinson’s disease of its kind.
Not only is it a time saving, data collecting tool, but it also is a treatment aide. The LSVT Coach has both a Clinician and Client Edition. These collectively:
- Provide visual feedback that can help motivate patient performance.
- Offer interactive visual and auditory feedback for home practice (LSVT Coach Client Edition)
- Increase accessibility through the possibility of independent treatment sessions
- Can be used with all voice clients when SPL, frequency, or duration data are of interest and/or visual feedback is valuable
To learn more and view videos, click HERE. Open your mind to digital data collection! Free yourself from the labor of paper/pencil data collection.