Ruth Fink, MA, CCC/SLP
Research Associate
Clinical Director, MossRehab Aphasia Center

Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Korman Suite 202
1200 West Tabor Road
Philadelphia, PA 19141-3099
Telephone: 215-456-5969
Fax: 215-456-5926
E-mail: fink@shrsys.hslc.org

 

My interest in treating adults with acquired language disorders (aphasia) began during my graduate studies at Temple University, where I received my masters degree in speech pathology. During my clinical rotation in adult rehabilitation at MossRehab, I had the opportunity to observe firsthand the numerous ways that speaking, reading, writing and understanding speech were affected following a stroke or other injury to particular areas of the brain. I also began my study of how best to treat these individuals. After graduating, I continued to work at MossRehab, first as a staff clinician, then as the Assistant Director of the Center for Communications Disorders. In 1973, I was hired to supervise students in the graduate program at Temple University and went on to develop a private practice in treating adults with acquired aphasia, which I did until 1989. During this time, I met Dr. Myrna Schwartz and became fascinated with her research, which explored new directions in aphasia treatment based on theoretical models of how language is represented in the brain.

In 1989, I joined Dr. Schwartz’s Neuropsychology Research Lab at MossRehab and began my career as a clinical researcher. In 1996, we began a pilot program for treating individuals with chronic aphasia, using state-of-the-art knowledge gleaned from current research findings. This program was designed as a model to integrate research into clinical practice. In 1997, I was named Clinical Director of the Aphasia Center. My dual appointment as a researcher in the research institute and Clinical Director of MossRehab Aphasia Center allows me to continue to pursue my main interest: to determine how best to help individuals with aphasia become successful communicators.

Research Focus

• Aphasia Rehabilitation/Improving Language Skills: In the current healthcare environment, the need to deliver short-term, effective treatment is essential. Clinicians must prove that therapy is necessary and effective. In collaboration with Myrna Schwartz, PhD, Associate Director, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, and researchers from Temple University Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Ms. Fink has been investigating the effectiveness of model-driven treatments for verb retrieval, sentence processing and more recently, naming disorders in aphasia.

• Aphasia Rehabilitation/Treatment Generalization: Gains made in the clinic or laboratory are too often limited to the tasks or vocabulary worked on in therapy and do not automatically carry over to conversation or functional situations. Ms. Fink is currently investigating methods to promote generalization of treatment effects into conversational situations and to develop effective self-study programs for independent practice at home or in the clinic. These methods include the training of conversational partners and the development of language therapy software, which utilizes the most up-to-date computer technology. In the future, Ms. Fink plans to study the effectiveness of computer-assisted treatments and of volunteer-led conversation groups.

• Computer-Assisted Language Therapy: Ms. Fink, along with other members of the research institute, have been designing software to enable clinicians to provide therapy more efficiently and for patients to practice more independently. One question that is currently under investigation is whether there is a difference in recovery when patients use these computer exercises with minimal or with total clinician supervision.

Funding Sources

Ms. Fink has received funding from the Albert Einstein Society, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and the McLean Foundation.

Selected Publications:

• Fink, RB, Schwartz, MF, Myers, JL. Investigations of the Sentence Query Approach to Mapping Therapy. Brain and Language. 1998; 65: 203-207.

• Schwartz, MF, Fink, RB. Rehabilitation of Aphasia. Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology. McGraw Hill. 1997.

• Schwartz, MF, Fink, RB, Saffran, EM. The Modular Treatment of Agrammatism. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 1995; 5: 93-127.

• Fink, RB, Schwartz, MF, Rochon, E, Myers, JL, Socolof, GS, Bluestone, R. Syntax stimulation revisited: An analysis of generalization of treatment effect. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology. 1995; 4: 99-104.

• Schwartz, MF, Saffran, EM, Fink, RB, Myers, JL, Martin, N. Mapping therapy: A treatment program for agrammatism. Aphasiology. 1994; 8: 19-54.

• Fink, RB, Martin, N, Schwartz, MF, Saffran, EM, Myers, JL. Facilitation of Verb Retrieval Skills in Aphasia: A Comparison of Two Approaches. Clinical Aphasiology. ML Lemme (Ed). Austin, TX: Pro-ed. 1993; 21.

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