Vivavoce is a mediac center specialized in the treatment of stuttering and language-related disorders. It was initially born in London with the name of International Stuttering Center (ISC), but is present in Italy with 6 offices (Milan, Udine, Bologna, Caserta, Rome and Catania). Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore, strategic and operational arm of the Cariplo Foundation within theimpact investing, has invested 200,000 euros in equity to support the social impact of the medical center.
Vivavoce – Medical Center specializes in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of all disorders related to the voice, and in particular represents excellence in the treatment of stuttering. In this context, it has developed a highly innovative rehabilitation treatment path, based on the MRM-S method (Muscarà Rehabilitation Method for Stuttering) – unique worldwide – carried out by a multidisciplinary team of professionals.
The MRM-S is now scientifically proven, thanks to a project that has found wide recognition by the international scientific community. The Method is not limited to teaching remedies to avoid stuttering (prolongation of sounds, hyperarticulation and chants) or to address the problem exclusively from a psychoemotional point of view, but provides for a re-education work of the person in his totality and uniqueness, from the control of the single movement necessary to produce a phoneme, to the management of language in a context of anxiety and stress.
The path for the rehabilitation of stuttering proposed by the medical center is divided into three phases: the free individual interview, the Intensive Course of 5 consecutive days (carried out at one of the hands-free locations), and the post-course Rehabilitation Work, lasting 6 months, carried out on site and remotely, with the help of a proprietary App. The peculiarity of the method also lies in the approach that integrates the use of technology and telemedicine into the frontal path with the patient.
There are two applications used to support rehabilitation: Riablo® and the Biofeedback instrumentation.
Riablo® is a software for the acquisition of the patient’s movement during the execution of exercises and the processing of data via tablet, which allows for a better understanding of the motor pattern linked to the articulatory movement underlying the phonatory one.
The Biofeedback instrumentation, on the other hand, allows toview some parameters that signal the activity of the Autonomous Nervous System (skin conductance, temperature, heartbeat, breathing, etc …). By knowing in real time the variation of these parameters during stressful events (such as, for example, the announcement to make a phone call), the patient, with the help of the reference professional, learns to manage even the most emotional aspects related to phonation .
Then there is the Vivavoce © app, used in the 6-month post-course phase, which instead allows patients to have daily follow-up by the reference professional, improving the effectiveness of the remote rehabilitation phase. A new app is currently being studied that will allow you to integrate and optimize the rehabilitation process with the technology already in use (device and Biofeedback), carrying out real remote rehabilitation sessions with hands-free professionals “.
