Wii-Hab Therapy Article Appears in New York Times

Once I worked with a fantastic Occupational Therapist who always motivated his staff and kept morale high even during periods when the case load was tough. He would always say, "Everything that is old, is new again." He said this because his years of experience taught him that the treatment approach that was most talked about just the other day, would be overshadowed by a different treatment approach for a while, only to resurface again as the hot "new" topic once more. Rehabilitation approaches, like life, appear to be cyclical and using Wii in rehab appears to run in and out of the spotlight regularly. The New York Times shines that spotlight on Wii once more by publishing an article Saturday highlighting the value of Wii Golf in therapy. Wii activities bring FUN into treatment. FUN helps patients stay motivated. This article suggests that some in rehab even forget that they are exercising. They just think they are having fun as their strength, balance and cognition improves. A patient once said to me, "Every part of therapy doesn't need to be so hard." She loved Wii because the games let her feel successful and refreshed. She enjoyed laughing. Her standing tolerance was much higher during Wii Bowling than during the therapeutic ball tap activity. Bring those Wii games back out this week. If you wish you knew more about using Wii in therapy, keep a lookout for a workshop in your area.