Get Gaming: The Emotional, Physical and Psychological Benefits of Video Games

Get Gaming: The Emotional, Physical and Psychological Benefits of Video Games (via Nvate)

By Bobby Miller Interactive, online games can be used to help people overcome phobias and other mental illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Even games designed for entertainment can benefit a person’s mental health. For instance, “Tetris” can divert a person’s attention away from…

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Physical Therapy and Technology Partner to Improve Services Provided to Veterans

Sherrie Glasser-Mayrsohn: Physical Therapy and Technology Partner to Improve Services Provided to Veterans (via MarketWired)

SOURCE: Metro Physical & Aquatic Therapy February 18, 2013 06:00 ET Sherrie Glasser-Mayrsohn, Physical Therapy Professional, Sheds Light on the Way in Which Video Games Can Actually Contribute to Physical Health and Wellbeing NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 18, 2013) - Video games have, over the years…

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Can exergames increase physical activity?

Posted by John Ferrara on June 7, 2012

Earlier this year, a study published in the journal Pediatrics found that five games that are marketed with the promise of increasing players' physical fitness produced no actual difference in activity. 78 kids between 9 and 12 were given Wii consoles, and then one group was given a couple of exergames while a control group was given "inactive" games like Madden and Mario Kart. The kids wore devices to measure their physical activity, and they kept logs of when they played.

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To be certain, the study was performed by a very accomplished group of researchers. The lead author, Tom Baranowski of Baylor College, is one of the most widely published researchers of health games. And this was a very well-designed study, printed in the foremost journal on children's health. Nevertheless, the study should not be read to mean that games can't affect physical activity and can't have a positive impact on public health. That's because it didn't account for the most influential factor in a health game's impact -- its design.

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President’s Council on Fitness backs Wii, Kinect and other video games.

By Lenny Bernstein,
Published: May 15

I couldn’t ignore the irony in the April 30 announcement that the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition had decided to team up with the Entertainment Software Association to demonstrate “how to use video games to promote physical activity.”

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There are so many active video games on the market now that the term “exergaming” entered the lexicon a few years ago. Today, you can find Wii bowling in assisted-living facilities and Dance Dance Revolution in West Virginia schools. The American Heart Association has already teamed with Nintendo. The managed-care giant UnitedHealth Group announced last week that it believes “the intersection of health and video gaming holds enormous potential benefit for individuals, families and the entire health care system.”

So perhaps it was inevitable that the venerable government organization and the trade group that has its hands on the controls of today’s youth entertainment would get together. Under the plan, kids can earn their Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA+) certificate by using active games to help them get 60 minutes of exercise, five days a week for six weeks. Adults must move for 30 minutes a day. There is also a nutrition component to the challenge (hence the “plus” in PALA+).

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Early Wii-hab for critical care patients

Critical care patients are being encouraged to start their rehabilitation programme early by playing computer games. Patients on ventilators are being encouraged to play the Wii games as part of a six month pilot study at Colchester General Hospital. The initiative is part of a project that aims to accelerate recovery rates and establish the benefits of starting rehabilitation as soon as possible.

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The early stage rehabilitation, which includes using weights and squeezing therapy as well as the Wii games, is now being offered to ventilated patients who are well enough to sit in a chair and breath unaided.

Specialist physiotherapist in respiratory care, Jennifer Powner, who is jointly running the pilot, said: ‘There is now a considerable amount of evidence to show that the earlier rehabilitation begins, the sooner a patient’s recovery starts and the sooner they can leave critical care. ‘Using a Wii can help this group of patients. It is a fun way to introduce and engage patients who are very poorly and anxious about their recovery to the idea of exercise.’

 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - Frontline - Robert Millett

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Can a video game make you fit?

by Johnny Minkley, Nov 24, 2011

You could point to Wii Sports as the active gaming's 'Big Bang' moment, or, going even further back, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series in arcades and on PlayStations – the first game series, to my knowledge, to feature a calorie counter.

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But it wasn't until Wii Fit in 2007 that video game fitness became Big Business. Here's some hardcore stat-porn for you: Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus have sold over 40 million copies, making them among the biggest selling home console titles in history; the Balance Board, that plastic tray Nintendo made for Wii Fit, had shifted over 34 million units by the end of last year; and Zumba Fitness, the awful cash-in based on that terrifying dance craze enjoyed by wild-eyed women, spent ten weeks at number one in the UK all-formats games chart this year.

The classic hardcore gamer response is either to sneer at fat idiots frittering away more money chasing an impossible dream, or to despair at the credibility collapse of their special hobby.

 Me? I think the craze is brilliant. Yes, most fitness gamers are (ironically) lazy, rubbish bandwagon jumpers. But I happen to believe it is a wonderful thing that the entertainment medium I have been obsessed with for most of my life is evolving to become something more than just entertainment, something that actually contributes to the social good (which I wrote about in more detail in a previous column).

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San Jose State kinesiology student looks into benefits of Nintendo's Wii Fit

By Matt Wilson
mwilson@community-newspapers.com
Posted: 09/29/2011

A San Jose State graduate student is inviting older residents with free time and an appetite for exercise to come over and play some video games. Kinesiology student Ramonda Collins is asking people ages 60 to 80 to participate in a study to see if playing the Nintendo video game Wii Fit will improve their balance.

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Collins chose this research as part of her culminating master's thesis project. A high score in a video games, however, is not what Collins is after. Measurements for balance improvement is not taken from the game, but from the Berg Balance Scale, an industry standard balance measuring device. "The main goal is to see if they can improve their balance while on the Berg," Collins says. Some studies have already been done using the game, but the sample sizes were not large enough to be of conclusive interest, Collins says. "The goal for my study is [to] use a larger sample size and see if the Wii Fit does help improve balance over a two-month period," she says.

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Game your way to healthy living

Friday, Nov 04, 2011, AsiaOne

SINGAPORE - Exercising and working your body to better health does not have to be boring, as new gaming technologies being introduced in Singapore hospitals show. Using video games and interactive technologies to improve health is fast catching on in Singapore, with The Straits Times (ST) reporting that several rehabilitation centres here have taken up offering interactive technologies alongside conventional therapies to improve conditions ranging from stroke, burn wounds to even learning difficulties.

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In the National University of Singapore (NUH), a Nintendo Wii game designed by Singapore Polytechnic students encourages stroke patients to exercise their arms by playing games such as flipping burger patties on a barbecue grill. The sweeping movements work the patients' hands and wrists and help strengthen muscles and another game, designed by Temasek Polytechnic students, gets patients to move a spaceship side to side on a screen using the Kinect to avoid getting hit by asteroids. The award-winning game does not allow patients to maneuver the spaceship using their bodies or legs, and similarly helps in the rehabilitation of arm nerves and muscles affected by a stroke.

 The Kinect and Wii are a motion-sensing gaming devices that use hand controllers to interact and play games on a screen. Therapists and rehabilitation doctors interviewed by ST say this is just the start, and there is much potential in harnessing gaming technologies for therapeutic purposes. Already, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) uses a webcam-based program called Ovogame while Changi General Hospital and TTSH use the Wii or Kinect.

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Video Games Help ICU Patients With Physical Therapy

October 11, 2011

Video Games Help ICU Patients With Physical Therapy,

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Interactive video games on consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit can enhance physical therapy for patients in intensive care units, according to a study published in the Journal of Critical Care, United Press International reports.


Methodology
For the one-year study, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine evaluated 22 patients ages 32 to 64 who were admitted to the hospital for cardiovascular disease, respiratory failure, sepsis or other health issues (United Press International, 10/8).

The patients participated in 42 physical therapy sessions that included 20 minutes of playing interactive video games featuring boxing, bowling, balance boards and other activities aimed at improving stamina and balance (Walker, "Picture of Health," Baltimore Sun, 10/3).


Study Findings
Researchers found that the interactive video games increased patients' interest in physical therapy (Galbraith, Examiner, 10/4). Dale Needham, senior author of the study, said, "[W]hen properly selected and supervised by experienced physical therapists, patients enjoyed the challenge of the video games and welcomed the change from their physical therapy routines" (United Press International, 10/8).

Needham added that video games are cost effective compared with other physical therapies used in ICUs. Michelle Kho, study leader, said additional research is needed to determine "what physical therapy goals best benefit from video games" (Examiner, 10/4)

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Red Hill Studios Parkinsons Game Research

The University of California San Francisco School of Nursing and Red Hill Studios, an educational games startup, have collaborated to help people with Parkinson’s disease by developing a suite of therapeutic games. After a recently concluded three month pilot study, the researchers showed that playing computer-based physical therapy exercises can help people with Parkinson’s improve their gait and balance.
(taken from link to news piece)

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Taken from Red Hills landing page:

Games for people with Parkinson's Disease? Cool!!

Red Hill Studios and the School of Nursing at the University of California San Francisco have recently begun the second phase of a project to build a suite of therapeutic games that will help people with Parkinson's Disease (PD) improve their balance. Patients play the games by performing movements that have been shown to be beneficial for improving balance in people with PD. The patients' movements are captured by custom hardware and then processed by custom software developed by Red Hill Studios. These games will provide people with PD an immersive and interesting world in which to practice gait and balance exercises.


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Video Games Promoting Mental Health

Written by Nathalie Caron Wednesday, 24 August 2011 10:49 http://www.gamefwd.org

Individuals dealing with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety have been found to find help though video games. Backed up by research in the field of mental health, these psychological conditions have benefited from exposure to a variety of games.

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Kahlbaugh explained that recreating the experiences which these older adults previously enjoyed through the video games seemed to allow them to "regain the psychological benefits such activities once afforded them."

She studied a group of 36 participants of an average age of 82.6 years old, all in general good health. Sixteen were asked to play Nintendo Wii games for an hour a week, while the remaining 12 watched an hour, over the course of ten weeks. Those who played Wii games reported higher positive moods than the TV-watching group and made such comments as feeling "more a part of things" or feeling "more in" with the younger generation, creating a greater sense of self and purpose.

"There was an older gentleman who came to play a session with his old bowling trophies," said Kahlbaugh. "For him, playing the Wii was a way to recapture the fun and sense of achievement he had had in the past." Some participants were eager to continue playing and have set up weekly sessions with volunteers.

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Retirement home provides rehabilitation resources

BY DYRINDA TYSON September 3, 2011 Click for more info

Seniors Wii bowl to keep fit

By: The Fresno Bee, Monday, Aug. 22, 2011 http://www.fresnobee.com

The Clovis Senior Center was one of more than 100 senior centers nationwide in the Wii Sports Resort competition, sponsored by Aetna Medicare.

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According to Aetna, one of the keys to staying healthy as we grow older is "not to fall." It's well known that falls and a broken hip among older people often leads to a steady decline.
Exercises that help with balance are important with every passing year as the body's muscle mass slowly diminishes.

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Wii makes rehab merry

August 21, 2011 By Tim Johnson Sunday  http://www.southwestiowanews.com

“Exercise can just be so boring, and we just wanted to make it more fun.”

That is why Alegent Health Mercy Hospital officials decided to use Wii games as part of rehab for joint replacement patients, said Andrea Bolte, director of orthopedics.

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“We used to do things in the hallway that, because of fire code, we can’t do anymore,” she said. “As we were kind of brainstorming, we did approach the guild. They donated the Wii, and the staff donated their TV from the break room.”

Patients spend 45 to 60 minutes in joint camp each morning doing conventional rehab exercises and can spend 20 to 30 minutes on the games in the afternoon, said Stephanie Denton, lead therapist. The games score more points with some patients than others.

“We don’t force anyone to do it, if they’re not comfortable,” she said.

Mercy just started including the Wii games in therapy about a month ago, said Jacie Getter, nursing manager for orthopedics.

The game helps keep patients’ minds off their joints and pain. It still requires some movement, and it can trick patients into putting more weight on their new joints than they might otherwise. It also helps test their balance, she said.
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Wehab: Wii Homework For Stroke Victims

BY LAKSHMI SANDHANA Fri Aug 12, 2011
http://www.fastcompany.com

Nintendo's Wii has been used for a while now by physical therapists, but a revolutionary new platform could transform the game system into an at-home recovery tool, with therapists overseeing progress over 3G.

A revolutionary rehabilitation system has stroke patients ambling onto Wii Balance boards--at home--to play versions of games like Wii Resort and Wii Sports, under the watchful eye of a remotely located therapist. For the first time, therapists can assign "homework therapy," giving patients an opportunity to get continuous monitored therapy services and rehab at home with ease.

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"Wehab" is the brainchild of researchers at the University of Notre Dame, and it aims to change the future of stroke therapy. A great deal of balance retraining is needed for stroke patients to perform basic tasks like walking and dressing; rehabilitation requires the patient to put in many hours every day and is often a tedious, time consuming and expensive process. Therapists typically use mirrors and guesswork to assess any progress patients make and it is easy to miss out on little improvements. Given only subjective feedback and constrained by needing to visit a hospital or a therapy center physically, patients can take months or years to regain their motor functions.

"Patients do improve with training, but they do it very slowly," says Dr. Sergi Bermúdez i Badia, an expert in interactive technologies for neuro-rehabilitation at the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute in Portugal. "What is really needed here is real time feedback on performance that can be given to patients that they can understand and use to correct their pose or movements."

More info and Video of the software here

Hi-tech stimuli help to dull the pain | The Australian

ASK neuroscientist Stuart Smith about the biggest problem with rehabilitation exercises for stroke patients and he'll be blunt: they're boring.

Despite their effectiveness at improving motor control and reducing sensory and intellectual impairment, many stroke patients in Smith's care find exercises repetitive and frustrating.

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"This is especially the case with the young guys," says Smith, who is with Neuroscience Research Australia (NeurA) in Sydney.

"It's difficult to even get them to turn up to the rehabilitation sessions sometimes. You can move a bag of sand across a desk thousands of times a day and see a very clear improvement, but no one's going to do that."

What people would rather do is play video games. And, as it happens, that's just what they need.

Video games and virtual reality have been used in medicine for nearly 20 years. San Francisco psychologist Ralph Lamson is widely credited with having pioneered the use of so-called VR immersion therapy when he used a computer simulation to treat his own acrophobia, fear of heights.

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COPD patients may breathe easier, thanks to the Wii

May 16, 2011
Provided by American Thoracic Society

According to a new study conducted by researchers in Connecticut, the Wii Fit™ offers patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) an effective workout – and one that, because it is enjoyable, patients are more likely to use.

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"Our study showed that COPD patients exercised at a relatively high percent of their maximum during three to five minutes of specified Wii Fit™exercises, indicating the Wii Fit may be a reasonable home-based exercise regimen for COPD patients," said Jeffrey Albores, MD, Internal Medicine Resident, University of Connecticut Health Center.
The results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.
Regular exercise benefits COPD patients by increasing overall muscle tone and improving cardiopulmonary fitness. Getting patients to exercise regularly at home, while ideal, can be difficult, especially when in patients with COPD where exercise tolerance may be limited. Finding an exercise routine that patients enjoy may help motivate them to exercise regularly, said Dr. Albores.
"In order for exercise to be sustained in the long-term, the type of exercise should be agreeable to the patient," Dr. Albores said. "In this study, we aimed to find out the level of intensity of the Wii Fit™ exercises in patients with COPD."

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UWI study finds Nintendo games effective in treating cerebral palsy

BY NADINE WILSON Observer staff reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, June 09, 2011

A study conducted by the School of Physical Therapy (SPT) at the University of West Indies, Mona, has found that some video games are effective in the treatment of children living with cerebral palsy and also offer promise for patients suffering from strokes and spinal cord injuries.

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The study, which is being edited for publication in the British Physiotherapy Journal, was carried out by a group of researchers from the university in May 2009. The researchers analysed the motor function scores of six children suffering from cerebral palsy after they had played the Nintendo Wii twice weekly for six weeks. The students, ages six to 12 years, participated in boxing, baseball and tennis games using the Wii console, which uses a computer simulated environment.

Dr Sharmella Roopchand-Martin, who specialises in nuero-rehabilitation at SPT, said all the children involved in the study had improvements in their gross motor function scores at the end of the six weeks of training.

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Wii technology gets older adults moving

2:50 p.m., Sept. 15, 2010----Video games have been blamed for weight gain and lack of fitness in children and adolescents, but Beth Orsega-Smith is finding that the right games used the right way can actually improve health and well-being. Her target population, however, is about 60 years older than the typical video game player.

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An associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition at the University of Delaware, Orsega-Smith is conducting research on the use of “exergames” -- games that require physical exertion as an input to gain feedback from the system -- with older adults.

With assistance from undergraduate health behavior science majors, Orsega-Smith is exploring the use of the Nintendo Wii gaming system to promote not only physical fitness but also mental health. During the past two summers, four students have been involved in the project through UD's Service Learning Program.

A study implemented during summer 2009 by Kerrigan Smith and Christine Kukich at the Newark Senior Center and the Howard Weston Senior Center in New Castle, Del., compared the caloric expenditure of playing various Wii sports games -- bowling, tennis, and baseball -- for 30 minutes.

The calories burned ranged from a low of 18-89 for team bowling to a high of 22-114 for baseball.

Link to webpage