Friday, July 18, 2008

Robert Wood Johnson funds video game health research

Robert Wood Johnson foundation has devoted more than $8 million to fund Health Games Research, a research group dedicated to discovering more about how video games can be used to improve health. The goals of the program are to support research that either increases physical activity or improves self-care (the activities involved in taking care of oneself).

This research funding is a wonderful step towards developing an evidence-base that supports use of video games as therapeutic activities. Many of the movements involved in playing the Wii or other interactive video games are already based on evidence and research that certain tasks improve balance, strength, coordination, and self-care abilities. Continuing to conduct research in this area will yield even more information about how providers can implement the use of video games in their practices and bring this technology to a wide variety of patients.

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