Nintendo Wii gains popularity in clinics and retirement homes
Posted by Ang Therapist on Friday, May 16th, 2008 @ 6:53 pm in Lifestyle, Miscellaneous.
People are not only enjoying the games on their Nintendo Wii Console at home. Now it has also gained popularity in retirement homes and clinics. There is a cool video clip on USA Today, which features the use of the Nintendo Wii in the Occupational Therapy Section of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center as part of their treatment programs.
Retirement communities, where residents are typically 60 and older, are using the system to energize their social scene. Hospitals have begun making the Wii part of rehabilitation regimens. And the Army is trying out the Wii for therapy at its Landstuhl, Germany, medical center and Walter Reed Hospital.
Physical rehab clinics have used computer and video games for many years, says Laurel Cargill Radley of the American Occupational Therapy Association, but the Wii “uses much more complex and much broader use of movement. … It’s like a simulation machine.”