Friday, January 28, 2011

Health & Social Benefits of Virtual Exercise Games in Adolescents with CP

This study, called the CP Fit ‘n Fun Project, is being conducted at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto with researchers there, at the University of Toronto and elsewhere.

The goal is to see if exercise video games (exergames) will help engage teenagers with CP to increase their fitness and help with socializing.

For more information, link to pdf: www.neurodevnet.ca/sites/default/files/neurodevnet/download/Fehlings-Graham_OppInit2010_WebInfo_1.pdf

Friday, January 14, 2011

Fun and Games: Virtual Reality Turns the Work of Rehab into Play

image from www.oandp.com
Image from: http://www.oandp.com/
By Miki Fairley
Published in the May 2010 issue of The OandP EDGE, Your Resource for Orthotics & Prosthetics Information
http://www.oandp.com/edge/
This article reports on researching the applications of video gaming as rehabilitation tools. Three examples are given: adults with stroke, children with cerebral palsy and amputees.
As with any physical or occupational therapy, video game playing can help to show progress by stimulating the brain's natural tendency to repair itself (plasticity), and by muscle strengthening. Video games, when not too frustrating for patients, typically hold the player’s attention longer than traditional therapies. These two factors together may contribute to better functional outcomes. The author reports on improvements in hand function, speed and grip strength. Evidence strength is not rated.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Ablegamers


image from ablegamers.com
Image from http://www.ablegamers.com/
 "The AbleGamers Foundation is dedicated to bring greater accessibility in the digital entertainment space so that people with disabilities can gain a greater quality of life, and develop a rich social life that gaming can bring."
This site is for gamers with disabilities: people who play popular games but need alternate access to control them.
www.ablegamers.com/

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Just games

Up to now, this blog has been for pediatric therapists interested in virtual rehabilitation. Topics included Wii-hab, virtual reality and remote use of the videoconference for rehabilitation (telerehabilitation, teleassessment, telepractice).

From now on: News on clinical game-based rehabilitation.
The focus is narrowing to video games such as Nintendo, Kinect, Move and multi-touch surfaces that are based on virtual or augmented reality or alternate ways of access and used clinically by therapists for children in rehabilitation.

Information on telerehabilitation can be found at:
http://sh-elearn.atutor.ca/go.php/32/content.php/cid/752/
http://sh-elearn.atutor.ca/go.php/32/content.php/cid/753/