Gwinnett hospital takes a swing at ‘Wii-hab

Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville has jumped aboard a growing national trend in using the Nintendo Wii videogame console in physical therapy.

Physical therapists see great promise in the videogame, which uses a motion-sensitive controller to allow players to simulate golf and tennis swings, among other movements.

"It brings a little fun to rehab," said Becky Thompson, the physical therapist who came up with the idea to bring the Wii into the program after reading about it in a news article.

It's unknown if any other metro Atlanta hospitals or rehabilitation centers are using the Wii in rehab. Media officials at some of the larger groups, such as Emory Healthcare and Piedmont Hospital, didn't respond to requests about Wii use.

But an increasing number of therapists around the country are using the device, said Stacy Fritz, a clinical assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of South Carolina who is conducting the first known large-scale trial on the effectiveness of videogame therapy for physically disabled patients.

"We don't know much about them. We don't know how much they help, or if they would help at all. But they look like they would work," she said.

The Wii is different from other game consoles in that users don't just sit on the couch and play. The system features sports and other games controlled by a motion-sensing wand that allows a player to simulate a golf swing. A balance sensor that players stand on allows them to simulate skiing, swimming down a stream or even swaying back or forth to guide balls around a teetering platform.

Doug Burchfield of Lawrenceville doesn't need to wait for clinical trial results to say what's increasingly known as "Wii-hab" is working for him.

Burchfield lost both legs in a work accident in 2005, and his therapists at Gwinnett Medical Center are using the Wii to help him develop the balance and muscle control he'll need to go back to playing golf and taking a more active role in coaching youth baseball.

It just wasn't practical to swing a golf club around the rehab room, he said.

"I was really surprised how I was able to move," Burchfield said. "I've been able to get in there and try a couple of things and cut the learning curve."

On a recent training session, he hit par on two of three golf holes and beat a visitor in a game that requires players to shift their weight from side to side to move an on-screen character who's trying to hit oncoming soccer balls off his head.

About 10 Gwinnett Medical Center patients are using the Wii, Thompson said. Physical therapist Leigh Ann Cochran said patients get a great range of movement from playing the games.

"They don't even realize they are working out," she said. source>>>

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