NEWS RELEASE
June 5, 2003

Contact: Laurie Jake, ATRA Communications Coordinator
Phone (480) 460-1525 or
Ann Huston, ATRA Executive Director
Phone: (703) 683-9420

Recreational Therapist Invited to Address Evidenced-Based Geriatric Medicine

(Alexandria, VA) ATRA Member Dr. Nancy E. Richeson, Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Maine has been invited to present at the annual Evidence-Based Practice in Geriatrics conference in Bar Harbor, Maine. The three-day conference sponsored by the University of Maine at Orono's Center for Aging provides practitioners and researchers from a variety of professions a chance to share best practices in geriatric treatment. This is the first year a Recreational Therapist has been invited to present information. Richeson will be presenting on Evidence-Based Practice in Recreational Therapy. Richeson will be the only CTRS involved. Richeson states, “It is my hope that exposure to recreational therapy interventions by other health care professionals working with older adults with dementia will assist them to begin to recognize the importance of recreational therapy and its contribution to the healthcare team.”

Richeson is currently the Treatment Network Coordinator for ATRA’s Geriatric Treatment Network and she participated in the development of the Dementia Practice Guidelines. Richeson was among the first group to attend and successfully pass the training to implement the guidelines. Richeson will also be presenting a poster session at the upcoming National Alzheimer’s association conference titled, “"Who Let the Dogs Out? An Animal-Assisted Therapy Outcome Study for Older Adults with Dementia.” highlighting research on the effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on the Agitated Behaviors of older Adults with Dementia.“ The research promotes the use of recreational therapy interventions for decreasing disturbing behaviors of older adults with dementia. When asked about her upcoming presentations and the attention that the Dementia Practice Guidelines have received in the Geriatric field, Richeson explains, “People are interested in what we are doing in recreational therapy”.

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The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was founded in 1984 to advance the profession of therapeutic recreation. ATRA is a non-profit, professional membership organization dedicating 100% of resources and efforts to promote therapeutic recreation professionals in health care and human service settings. For more information, please contact the ATRA National Office http://www.atra-tr.org