Beats Medical’s Exclusive Interview with Together for Sharon

We are delighted to announce that we recently collaborated with Together For Sharon on an exciting project. If you are interested in learning more about Beats Medical, our Parkinson’s app, and our hopes for the future of Parkinson’s, then keep reading below as this interview is one not to be missed!

Who are Together For Sharon?

Together For Sharon is a family run Parkinson’s organisation that was set up to honor their beloved mother, Sharon. They aim to raise awareness for Parkinson’s and hope for a cure.

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Beats Medical

Our mission is to transform how CNS & Rare Diseases are managed and understood, to unlock the therapies of the future. Through this, we empower patients, helping them to manage their symptoms independently.

Please tell me a little about your background.

My role with Beats Medical is a Sales and Marketing Associate. I am the first point of contact for new and potential users. As the Beats Medical service is personal to me, I am very passionate about helping people with CNS conditions target their symptoms at home and enjoy a good quality of life.

As my role is quite customer focused, I speak to our users regularly and love hearing their feedback. I try to support users in any way I can, offering technical support, feedback on exercises, or sometimes our users just want to have a chat, which I am more than happy to do!

Can you tell me more about your organization?

At Beats Medical, our mission is to deliver digital assessments and therapeutics that transform how CNS and rare diseases are managed and understood, to unlock the therapies of the future. We have deployed a variety of evidence-based applications, in areas like Parkinson’s, Dyspraxia, and well-being, that provide daily assessments and tailored therapies through the user’s smartphone. Our aim is to empower our users, helping them to manage their symptoms independently, at home and with confidence.

What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?

At Beats Medical we are all very passionate about empowering every person with a neurological condition to enjoy a better quality of life. For example, our award-winning Parkinson’s application was designed with the aim of improving the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s. We wanted to give patients access to evidenced-based exercises at home while they wait for specialist care, or between clinic visits.

This all began while our CEO, Ciara was working in a hospital as a physiotherapist. Her next patient, a person with Parkinson’s disease, was 20 minutes late. She went out to find him frozen at the main entrance, unable to move. It was for this reason that she founded Beats Medical, to look at the different approaches that can help people to walk or speak with ease, giving them tools to control their symptoms at home.

What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when working with you?

The Beats Medical Parkinson’s app was designed to target the most common symptoms of Parkinson’s. It allows users to practice their mobility, hand movement, and speech skills at home. Many of our clients use the metronome therapy to help them walk with confidence. Many complete the daily dexterity exercises to practice their handwriting, or to help make everyday tasks easier, like tying their shoelaces or buttoning up shirts. Some clients also use our daily speech exercises to help them speak louder and clearer.

We also understand that when it comes to Parkinson’s, one size doesn’t fit all, and no two people with Parkinson’s are the same. That is why all our users have their own individual programs, tailored to their needs. For example, our metronome therapy gives users an individually tailored beat based on how they are walking on any given day. Users are then asked to try and match this beat during their 10-minute walking therapy.

What type of training and how long are the programs?

We always recommend that users try our 14-day free trial to make sure our service is right for them. During their trial period, users can try all the exercises and therapies across all three sections of the app. Our dedicated support team also regularly check in to make sure that they are getting the most from their free trial.

Once users are happy with the service, they can opt for either our monthly or yearly membership option. Consistency and repetition are key, so we recommend that users try to complete their daily exercises for at least 10 minutes a day to get the most from their Beats.

What effect can it have on an individual with Parkinson’s?

Our digital tool has helped users all over the world to target their Parkinson’s symptoms at home, through daily, tailored therapies and a dedicated support team. We’ve even had users walk the length of the UK using our technology!

The data we collect from these exercises can also contribute to future understandings of Parkinson’s, with a goal of developing digital biomarkers that can revolutionise how Parkinson’s is monitored and treated.

What would you like to see as a future goal for your programs?

Our goal is to provide these evidence-based interventions to our users free of charge, by tapping into reimbursement channels, giving more people access to exercises and therapies, helping them to target their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

What events do you participate in?

As leaders in the digital therapeutics industry, we attend conferences around the world, to ensure we are at the forefront of digital therapeutics conversations. We are often invited to speak at and chair many different health conferences around the world from the UK to the US, to Europe, and Asia.

Our CEO Ciara Clancy is also a Thought Leader for HealthXL, a leading global community for digital health collaboration.

We also recognise the importance of sponsoring different Parkinson’s related activities, to show our support for the community, and our passion to empower individuals.

How does this also assist the caregivers?

The app can be used by caregivers to support their patients, as a tool that provides them with daily exercises. The application should be used to augment existing measures. It is not designed to replace specialist care, but to give people something to work on between in-clinic sessions, to support what they are already doing.

How can someone get in touch?  What is your website?

People can get in touch with us by phone on the following numbers, 01 254 9975 (IRL), 040 3287 9975 (UK), 347 537 4080 (US and Rest of World) or you can also reach out to us by email on office@beatsmedical.com. You can also visit our website, http://www.beatsmedical.com to learn more about Parkinson’s and the work that we do.

If you had one final statement or quote you could leave for the Parkinson’s community, what would it be?

If you are just newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s or if you have had it for years, remember that the Parkinson’s community is very welcoming to new members. If you need any help or support you are not alone, reach out to your local Parkinson’s community for advice.

I will leave you with an inspiring quote from one of our users John, who has been a member of the Beats Medical community for nearly 10 years!