Are videogames wave of the future for rehab?
There is a growing trend toward use of video games to help patients recover from strokes, broken bones, and surgery. "Going forward, these kinds of videogames will become an additional tool for the occupational health professional to better treat their patients and help them more specifically," says Lars Oddsson, director of the Sister Kenny Research Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. The Center purchased a Nintendo Wii video game system in 2007.
"Patients really seem to enjoy this. We need to pursue it further, to find out the best way to use these tools," says Oddsson.
The trend is growing with various population bases that have not traditionally been seen as video game players, says Jim Osborn, executive director of the Southern Illinois HealthcareRehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "Interest is extremely high both in the United States and abroad," he says.
However, OHNs should be aware that Wii-rehab is not a substitute for traditional therapy techniquesit is supplementary. "We use the Wii in our industrial rehabilitation settings to increase positional tolerances, cardiovascular activity, range of motion, and balance," says Osborn.
Patients tend to become more engaged in physical activity when using the Wii than when doing routine, rote, and some would say, monotonous exercises, Osborne adds. "We have observed patients performing at a higher level of function and for longer periods of time."
Source
For more information on use of videogames in rehab, contact:
- Jim Osborn, Executive Director, Southern Illinois HealthcareRehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Phone: (618) 942-2171, ext. 35490. E-mail: [email protected].
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