A gym for the mind at the museum

The volume presents the StArt Project, an innovative programme of cognitive-communicative stimulation with visual arts for people with mild-moderate neurocognitive disorders. It provides theoretical and practical materials needed to carry out rehabilitation sessions.

Designed and created at the Regional Center for the study and treatment of Cerebral Aging (RCCA) of the University Hospital of Padua, in collaboration with the Municipality of Padua and the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua, the StArt Project is a “model” that optimizes existing public resources – the hospital, the municipality, the university – integrating them in order to create a network with the same purposes.

The proposed protocol can be carried out both in a group setting and individually. The protocol can be carried out in presence but, with the appropriate precautions, it can also be carried out remotely. The modularity and adaptability of the rehabilitation sessions also make it possible to adapt the rehabilitation proposals to all museums in the area.

Recommended for
The contents of the volume and the formulation of the material have been designed in such a way as to allow for different uses. The volume was in fact created to be used both by adults interested in a cognitive-communicative stimulation programme to counteract cognitive decline and by professionals who have been trained in other areas.  The person concerned and the care partner will be able to choose the tools based on their personal preferences, while the art historian, the speech therapist, the psychologist and the healthcare professional will be able to modulate the tools according to their specific professional competences.