It seems the Nintendo Wii is now used for therapeutic means. Patients at Ohio State University Medical Center's Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital have been using the Wii to help people recovering from strokes and other injuries, such as 51-year-old Franklin Perry, regain their strength. According to Robbie Winget, a therapist who runs the Wii sessions, the hospital has been using Wii's for four months. All the patients at Dodd Hall enter the Wii sessions for about 30 minutes two to three times a week. Winget says that other video game consoles don't appeal to the patients as much as the Wii does.

I've been meaning to post this all day, because I hope that when I have a stroke (any day now) my wife won't object to me using my Wii as a therapeutic tool.

From Reuters:


Franklin Perry used to spend hours performing video game feats with his thumbs but lately he has been using the Nintendo Wii, and the rest of his body, to regain his strength after suffering a stroke.

The 51-year-old, who had a stroke about three weeks ago, has been working hard to rebuild the muscles in his immobilized right side at Ohio State University Medical Center's Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus.

The hospital has been using the Wii for about four months to help people recovering from strokes and spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries, according to Robbie Winget, an occupational therapist who runs the Wii sessions.

All the patients at Dodd Hall usually undergo a total of three hours of daily therapy and work with the video game system for about 30 minutes per day two to three times per week.

Winget said he didn't think other home video game consoles could match the Wii's appeal with older patients.

"The idea of sitting there fiddling a couple of buttons on a video game (controller) is not motivating or interesting at all," said Winget.

Supernouva via network.nationalpost.com »