(SPARKILL, NY – JANUARY 6, 2009) Dr. Linda Levine Madori, Professor of Therapeutic Recreation at St. Thomas Aquinas College, has been named one of the principal investigators in a 28-week Memory and Evaluation Services clinical study by Cornell University and Weil Medical College Memory Evaluation and Treatment Services. The study will determine the effect of Therapeutic Thematic Arts Programming (TTAP©) method, which Dr. Levine Madori published in 2007, on people diagnosed with mild dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“I am honored that the TTAP© Method is the focus of study,” said Dr. Levine Madori. “Our society is slowly but surely moving to embrace and validate the arts in health care. We have long overlooked and underestimated the power of the creative arts on the human psyche.”
Funded by a grant from Cornell University, the study looks to address how this multi-modal approach can possibly enhance cognition and emotional well-being in early stage Alzheimer’s Disease and /or Mild Cognitive Impairments. St. Thomas Aquinas fourth year undergraduates majoring in therapeutic recreation will be participating in the implementation of this program as an independent study course.
“Only since 2000, when science discovered through MRI and CAT scans a way in which we could glimpse into the living brain, were we first able to witness that auditory, visual, tactile and sensory stimulation naturally provided through the creative arts, enhances brain functioning and formation,” commented Dr. Levine Madori.
The study is being conducted with Alzheimer’s patients at the Burke Rehabilitation Institute’s Memory and Evaluation Clinic in White Plains (NY). The other principal investigators are Dr. Barry Jordan, Director of the Memory and Evaluation Clinic, and Dr. Pasquale Fonzetti, the Clinic’s Associate Director.
Linda Levine Madori, Ph.D., Fulbright Scholar, received a Ph.D. from New York University, a Master of Science degree from City College/CUNY, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lehman College and is a Board Certified and New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Since 1991, she has chaired the Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Track of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging. She is a Board member of the New York Therapeutic Recreation Association and a Member at Large for the American Therapeutic Recreation Association. Dr. Levine Madori is a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Speakers Bureau and is available to give lectures, workshops or classes on The TTAP Method; the importance of the Creative Arts in brain wellness; Aging and Lifespan Development and Alzheimer’s disease.
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The College’s 2,700 full and part time students can choose from 97 different majors, minors, specializations, and dual degree programs across five divisions: The Humanities; Business Administration; Social Sciences; Natural Sciences & Mathematics; and Teacher Education or are enrolled in one of our graduate programs. St. Thomas Aquinas has expanded its offerings to include: a Master of Science in Education with specializations in Literacy, Special Education, and Educational Leadership, a Post Masters Certificate program in Education, a Master of Science in Teaching, a Master of Business Administration program, a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science in Education, and an Associate of Arts and an Associate of Science degree, the latter two offered at the West Point Military Academy. For more information on the College visit www.stac.edu.
