Gamer's Accessibility Holiday Guides

Ablegamers http://www.ablegamers.com evaluates game software, hardware and devices. Games are rated on scales for visual, auditory and movement requirements.

Ablegamers have released their annual “Holiday Gift guide for disabled gamers”. http://www.ablegamers.com/Disabled-Gamers-General-News/ablegamers-holiday-gift-guide-for-disabled-gamers-2012.html

DAGERS http://dagersystem.com/ evaluates games to characterize the accessibility of the video game software. The DAGERS system considers how limitations in auditory, visual and fine motor performance limit being able to advance through the game. DAGERS currently rates games as inaccessible, partly, thoroughly accessible or barrier free. DAGERS have also produced a “Holiday accessibility buying guide” http://dagersystem.com/index.php/features/45-featured/117-holiday-buying-guide

Games for Health Journal - Volume 1, Number 4

Table of Contents
http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/g4h/1/4

Original Articles

Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: “Fitter Critters”; Kristin L. Schneider, John Ferrara, Bri Lance, Andrew Karetas, Susan Druker, Emily Panza, Barbara Olendzki, Victoria Andersen, and Lori Pbert
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0009

Improvements in Dynamic Balance Using an Adaptive Snowboard with the Nintendo Wii; Brendan Sullivan, Alexandra G. Harding, John Dingley, and Laura Z. Gras
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0006

Looking Similar Promotes Group Stability in a Game-Based Virtual Community, Catherine L. Lortie and Matthieu J. Guitton
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.00016

When Losing Means Winning: The Impact of Conflict in a Digital Game on Young Adults' Intentions to Get Protected from Cancer, Georges E. Khalil
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0017

A Comparison of Solo and Multiplayer Active Videogame Play in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy; Jennifer Howcroft, Darcy Fehlings, Virginia Wright, Karl Zabjek, Jan Andrysek, and Elaine Biddiss
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0015

Clinical Briefs

A Qualitative Study to Inform the Development of a Videogame for Adolescent Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention; Kimberly Hieftje, Marjorie S. Rosenthal, Deepa R. Camenga, E. Jennifer Edelman, and Lynn E. Fiellin
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0025

Gamification and the Internet: Experts Expect Game Layers to Expand in the Future, with Positive and Negative Results; Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0027

Using Alice 2.0 to Design Games for People with Stroke, Rachel Proffitt, Caitlin Kelleher, M. Carolyn Baum, and Jack Engsberg
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0029

Using Games to Improve Functioning in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Jacqueline Pei and Kimberly Kerns
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0036

Importance of Patient Culture and Exergaming Design for Clinical Populations: A Case Series on Exercise Adherence in Soldiers with Depression; Greg M. Reger, Kevin M. Holloway, Joe Edwards, and Amanda Edwards-Stewart
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0014

Letter to the Editor
Games for Health: A Rookie’s Observations, Marc L. Demers

Interview
Using Health Games for Physical Therapy: An Interview with Ernie Medina, DrPH
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0028

Review
Fun and Games and Boredom; Richard Buday, Tom Baranowski, and Debbe Thompson
Link to abstract: //online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0026

Roundtable Discussion
Game Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder Moderator: Bill Ferguson, Participants: Cay Anderson-Hanley, Micah O. Mazurek, Sarah Parsons, and Zachary Warren

Program Profile
The Road Not Traveled: The Role of Telehealth in the New Era of Mobile Healthcare, Terry Duesterhoeft

Video games for physical therapy

Single group experimental study

Active Video Game Play in Children with Cerebral Palsy: Potential for Physical Activity Promotion and Rehabilitation Therapies

Howcroft, J., Klejman, S., Fehlings, D., Wright, V., Zabjek, K., Andrysek, J., & Biddiss, E. Arch Phys Med Rehabil Vol 93, August 2012; pp.1448 – 1456

Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22571917

Objective: How much energy do children with cerebral palsy expend and how much enjoyment do they find in active video games (AVG)?

Method: 17 children with mean age 9.43 years, GMFCS level 1, played 4 active video games for 8 minutes.

Findings: Children were instrumented with portable cardiopulmonary and optical motion capture equipment, and single differential surface electrodes. Moderate levels of physical activity; 3.2 and 3.36 METs (metabolic equivalent for task) were recorded, as was a high level of enjoyment; 4.5 out of 5 on the PACES (physical activity enjoyment scale). This study elicited differences across dominant and hemiplegic limbs’ range of movements, angular velocity and acceleration.

“Children with mild levels of cerebral palsy can attain moderate levels of physical activity during AVG play with games that require full body movements”. AVGs have the benefits of promoting physical activities and securing higher engagement in physical rehabilitation therapies.

Towards a core set of gaming outcomes

Gaming supports youth with acquired brain injury? A pilot study

de Kloet, A. J., Berger, M. A., Verhoeven, I. M., van Stein Callenfels, K., & Vliet Vleiland, T. P. Brain Injury, 2012, May 25, 1 – 9, Early Online

Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22632604

Objective: Do children and young adults with brain injury benefit from Nintendo Wii sessions?

Method: Fifty 6 – 29 year olds with acquired brain injury were required to independently play at least two hours of Wii games weekly for 12 weeks. Participants were interviewed to help self-identify three limitations to activities of daily living; three Nintendo games were matched to individual’s interests and limitations via a protocol called “TherapyWii”, available at www.TherapyWii.nl

Participants were assessed before and after the intervention. The Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE), the Amsterdam Neurological Tasks (ANT), Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), Pediatric Quality-of-Life Inventory (PedsQL) were used.

Findings: Two thirds of the participants reported improvement towards their self-identified goals, mostly in gross motor performance and information processing. Significant changes were seen in the level of physical activity (CAPE), speed of processing information, attention, response inhibition, and visual-motor coordination (ANT). No difference was seen for PedsQL.

The authors make a call for a core set of outcomes for studies of virtual reality and interactive video gaming in patients with brain injury. This study “substantiates the potential benefits of gaming in patients with ABI”.

Review: Remote sensing and rehabilitation

Patel, S., Park, H., Bonato, P., Chan, L. & Rodgers, M.
A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation' Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2012,9:21 doi:10.1186/1743-0003-9-21

Article available at www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/pdf/1743-0003-9-21.pdf

"...there exist technologies that hold great promise to expand the capabilities of the health care system, extending its range into the community, improving diagnostics and monitoring, and maximizing the independence and participation of individuals."

Three systems work together to permit this: sensors, wireless transmission of information and data analysis. Easily wearable devices (similar in size to a wristwatch) perform the functions of sensing some property (movement, pulse, respirations, temperature) and sending this information wirelessly to a networked device such as a smart phone. Once networked, the information is assessed by data analysing software. Short messages can be created to let the healthcare professional know of normal or abnormal activity. If necessary, alerts are sent out to family members or healthcare professionals.

This article discusses these technologies in detail and develops examples highlighting different applications of the key ‘enabling’ technologies, including home-based rehabilitation programs, an application that extends the reach and participation of healthcare recipients.

Reaching in games: Does it help in reality?

Research Study Low-cost motion interactive video games in home training for children with cerebral palsy: a kinematic evaluation

Sandlund, M., Grip, H., Häger, C., Domellöf, E. & Rönnqvist, L. Proceedings of International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation 2011, June 27 – 29, 2011

Link to the abstract ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=5971854&contentType=Conference+Publications

Objective: In children with cerebral palsy, does active video game play result in a pre- vs. post- intervention change in arm movement quality?

Method: 15 children (6 to16 years) with cerebral palsy and limitations in upper extremity movement were assessed before and after 4 weeks of daily, (20 minutes or more) game playing at home on Sony’s PlayStation2 EyeToy©. Motion analysis pre- and post-intervention measured spatiotemporal parameters, smoothness and precision while the children were engaging in game play and in real reaching activities.

Findings: Overall, arm movement velocities were lower post-intervention. However the game play demanded rhythmic movements where quickness was not required. Children showed post-intervention “reduced variability in shoulder angles and shorter center of pressure excursions which indicate increased economic reaching strategies”. Smoothness of movements was significantly increased post-intervention when reaching in the higher-accuracy condition of real targets, but not for virtual ones. Precision in reaching for targets improved in the virtual condition but not when reaching for real targets at post-intervention. There is some evidence for increased motor performance after video game play.

“According to earlier kinematic studies of reaching movements in children with cerebral palsy, fast and straight movements are often associated with improved movement control. It is important to consider the nature of the task and the context in which movements are performed when selecting kinematic and interpreting parameters.”

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association blog

ASHAsphere is the official blog of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHAsphere provides “the latest opinion and information related to audiology and speech-language pathology”. It is intended to feature posts including those written by communication sciences and disorders professionals and ASHA staff to encourage discussion. One offering is a list of ‘best’ SLP blogs.
blog.asha.org/2012/03/15/the-best-speech-language-pathologist-blogs-from-a-to-z/

The blogs needed to meet the following criteria: written by a speech-language pathologist or current graduate student, currently active and frequent, written about or sharing resources on speech language topics, directed to clinicians, parents and caregivers. Additionally, the blogs needed to appear professional and well edited with limited self-promotion.

Neither Sunny Hill nor ASHAsphere endorses any of these bloggers or the quality of the content, so your judgement is important in deciding how relevant and useful the blogs are.