Healthy Gaming » rehab

Hawaii patients use video games for rehab

Chris — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:56:30 +0000

The sounds of video games can be heard in most households, but the Nintendo Wii is being played almost on a regular basis at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific.

"Oh no!" said patient Arthur King as he looks intensely at the television screen with game controller in hand.

He hangs his head in disbelief as the words "You Lose" flash on the screen.

"I’ll be playing games all day trying not to lose," said Arthur.

72-year-old King is not addicted, he is recovering from a stroke, using the Wii as part of his physical therapy.

"It makes me work. I want to move both hands," said King.

Source

Therapist uses Nintendo Wii in customized rehab therapy for injured reservist

Chris — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:13:03 +0000

From google.com (Canadian Press):

The scene isn’t playing out against enemy combatants in a war zone but on a large TV at St. John’s Rehab Hospital, where the injured reservist is taking aim at animated images darting onto and off of the screen.
But there’s an added dimension to the device he’s using to take out his pixelated targets: the remote is housed inside a replica of the gun he carries on the front lines.
Phillips is testing out an innovative, customized therapy incorporating the Nintendo Wii video gaming system in an effort to simulate his real-life combat experience.
Occupational therapist Terrence Yuen said it was a conversation with his son that sparked the idea of creating a toy model of a gun to house the Wii control Phillips could use in a rehab training exercise.

Source

Vietnam Opens Game Addiction Rehab Clinic

Chris — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:32:24 +0000

From vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn (via gamepolitics.com):

There is good news – well, news – for teenagers and even adults who are addicted to playing online games. A rehab centre has just opened in HCM City to bring them back from their insidious virtual world.

Such centres are popular in major “gaming” countries like South Korea, Japan and China, but this is the first of it kind here.

Though the first game only appeared in Viet Nam four years ago, there are six million people playing them, mostly aged 13 – 18.

Huynh Hong Hiep head of training at the Southern Youth Centre – a centre for sport and culture that has set up the rehabilitation facility – says many parents complain they are unable to drag their children away from the computer.

Source

Snowy game, VR goggles take burn victims’ minds off of pain

Chris — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:00:53 +0000

From arstechnica.com (via slashdot.org):

You’d think being seriously wounded on the battlefield would be the most painful thing a soldier could go through, but the recovery from burns can take months of agonizing physical therapy that prolongs the suffering. In some cases, healing can be more painful than the original trauma. What if you could take patients away from their immediate surroundings when cleaning their burns or stretching the skin during physical therapy? A virtual reality game created to help patients deal with pain hopes to do just that.

Source

St. Clare now offers ‘Wii-hab’

Chris — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:31:47 +0000

Technorati Tags: wii,st.clare,wii-hab,injury,rehab

From thepaper24-7.com:

“For patients who have suffered a stroke or a serious traumatic injury, physical therapy is a likely and often feared step in the recovery process.

St. Clare Medical Center is taking a novel approach to physical therapy by integrating the popular Nintendo Wii gaming system into its rehabilitation regime. They call it “Wii-hab.”"