I saw this article in Therapy Times and wanted to share! Very interesting and a fun way to exercise for patients of almost all age groups.
Getting to Know Wii-hab™
Providing skilled care in an emerging field
By Jamie Goldstein, PT, DPT
01.16.11
Article available online at: http://www.therapytimes.com/02011Wiihab
Nationwide, many therapists are interested in or have already started incorporating the Nintendo® Wii™ into treatment programs at a basic level. As an active gaming system, the Nintendo® Wii™ engages people in simulated tasks and provides feedback, which has obvious benefits for therapists. Therapists have always embraced new technologies to improve outcomes with their patients.™
However, the technology of gaming comes along with the risk of not providing skilled care for our patients if the therapist becomes reliant on the game itself without therapeutic modifications. Since the Nintendo® Wii™ is a “new” intervention, it is important that therapists provide skilled care using the Wii™ and document that skill. To that end, I created the course “Wii™-hab: Adapting Gaming Technology into Rehabilitation” to teach therapists how to modify the games into skilled treatments to achieve patient-specific goals in a safe manner.
Benefits of Using the Nintendo® Wii™
The Nintendo® Wii™ is a motion-gaming system. This means that the person moves to control the game and receives feedback during and after completion of the game. In therapy terms, this means that the patient becomes engaged in a task-based activity which provides biofeedback. When a patient engages in any game on the Nintendo® Wii™, they become immersed into a virtual world. Immersion is a gaming principle in which the person’s awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded within a virtual world. In physical therapy, we are able to use this to assist our patient with pain management, activity tolerance, and motor control.
I have seen many patients who “have too much pain to exercise” but are able to participate in activities on the Wii™. These patients “forget” about their pain as they become engaged in the game. Along the same lines, I have patients who are able to participate in Wii™ activities for longer periods of time than other activities allowing me to focus on activity tolerance and postural retraining.
Patients can also improve their motor control as they become immersed into a task-based activity. The theory of motor control states that a patient will move in a specific pattern based on the interplay between the task he or she is doing, any patient constraints, and the surrounding environment. When patients engage in a simulated, familiar task on the Wii™, (i.e. bowling, tennis), the correct movement patterns begin to emerge. The ability to perform the correct movement patterns repeatedly assists in restoring the motor control of other similar functions. These patterns are often more difficult to elicit with “conventional physical therapy treatment”.
The Wii™ also provides biofeedback, which may increase our patients’ motivation and compliance with therapy programs. In my course, I highlight three main games: Wii™ Sports, Wii™ Sports Resort, and Wii™ Fit Plus. The biofeedback in Wii™ Sports and Wii™ Fit are much different from each other, but very beneficial for therapy. Wii™-Sports and Wii™-Sports Resort give positive reinforcement of motion with the ability to knock down bowling pins or hit a baseball.
Pamela Mackey
Cirrus Allied
704-887-4408
