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wii-hab: VA MEDICAL CENTER USES VIDEO GAME FOR EXERCISE

AND REHAB -- "I'm starting to get the hang of this. It certainly

keeps you sharp in the mind. And it's kind of fascinating."

wii bowling

For more information about wii-hab therapy, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=wii&op=and

Be sure to watch the video of this story at the link below.

Story here... http://www.tuscaloosane
ws.com/article/20080109/LATEST/131208588

Story below:

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VA med center employs wii for exercise and rehab

By Sarah Bruyn Jones
Staff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | With a slight swing of his arm and a flip of his wrist, Willie Benison picked up the last pin for a spare.

He broke into a smile.

“I think I like it better now then I did when I could go to the bowling alley,” he said. “It keeps my mind off my legs. I think I could do this most of the day.”

Benison, 49, uses a wheelchair. He has been living at the Veteran’s Affairs nursing home in Tuscaloosa since 2004, when a spine surgery left him unable to walk.

On Tuesday, he played a video game for the first time in a couple of decades. His game then was Pac-Man.

Now, it’s part of his therapy.

The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center purchased two Nintendo Wii video game consoles last fall and is awaiting 10 that are back-ordered.

While Wii, pronounced “we,” may have been a highly sought Christmas gift for children and teenagers last month, grandparents living in retirement communities and nursing homes are also catching on to the craze. Reports throughout the country have touted the game as a fun — and, in some cases, therapeutic — way for people to stay active.

The slender Wii remote, a motion-sensing wireless controller, is held by a player and turns arm movements into game moves. So when a player like Benison makes a motion simulating rolling a bowling ball with the remote in his hand, the computer image follows that motion.

The Dallas Morning News recently reported that Nintendo has set up exhibits at AARP conferences and senior-living industry conventions. Nintendo has made an effort to market the game, which retails for $250, within families, across generations.

While the Tuscaloosa VA initially purchased the Wii consoles for its younger veterans returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, administrators quickly found that the game had benefits for everyone.

Following Benison’s spare, it was fellow resident Ezra Grant’s turn. Grant, 79, has been living at the nursing home since he fell and hurt his hip nearly eight weeks ago. He also has a bad rotator cuff. Both injuries have kept him away from the bowling alley, but he was happy to bowl from his wheelchair.

Grant watched his moves projected on a 50-inch flat-screen television as he rolled the ball, knocking over four pins.

“I’m starting to get the hang of this,” he said. “It certainly keeps you sharp in the mind. And it’s kind of fascinating.”

While Grant said his favorite Wii game is bowling, the therapists at the nursing home are encouraging him to play more baseball. That game requires him to use his injured shoulder when he makes an overhand motion to pitch the ball.

“It really helps strengthen that rotator cuff,” said Ann Harris-Johnson, one of the recreation therapists and a licensed practical nurse at the VA. “It has benefits for everyone. In our dementia patients, it can help with their cognitive abilities, although some have problems with the hand-eye coordination.”

Even for younger veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome, and those in the homeless domiciliary program, VA officials are touting the game as a good to way help veterans unwind.

“We really think it can be used with all our age groups,” said Damon Stevenson, spokesman for the Tuscaloosa VA. “For the younger vets who have more dexterity it becomes a good leisure activity, something positive and healthy for them to do.”

Reach Sarah Bruyn Jones at sarah.jones@tuscaloosanews.com  or 205-722-0209.

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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