Wii Rehab Improves Balance And Mobility For Stroke Patients

Wii rehab improves balance and mobility for stroke patients at Trafford General Hospital in the UK. A Stroke patient held a fundraiser to raise enough money for a Wii, Wii games and a plasma TV. Fund raising is a great way to obtain the latest technology with minimal cost to your company or organisation! What could you do?

Fun and games, the key to rehabilitation
Thursday 18th December 2008

STROKE patients at Trafford General Hospital are enjoying rehabilitation - in the form of video games - to help their co-ordination, balance and physical mobility, thanks to fundraising by a former patient and his friends at Urmston Men’s Club.

Jim Cork, 69, from Urmston, used to be the compere at Urmston Men’s Club and was treated at Trafford General when he had a stroke in August 2007.

He wanted to help other patients on the stroke unit, so organised a fundraising evening last summer at Urmston Men’s Club.

The evening raised more than £1,400, enabling the purchase of a Nintendo Wii console and plasma screen for Trafford General’s stroke unit.

Wii is a computer games system that detects players’ movements and translates them into the action on screen.

Players can engage in virtual rounds of golf, bowling competitions and even boxing matches by using the Wii remote control to hit the ball, bowl or throw a punch.

It means stroke patients at Trafford General will be able to use Wii to aid their recovery in a fun way by having bowling or golf competitions with each other.

The Wii system will mainly be used during recreation time and will be in addition to the usual therapies provided to stroke patients.

The games can be played from either a standing or a sitting position, making them suited to patients of different ability levels.

Jim said: “The unit has given me a lot of help so I wanted to say thanks. I hope that patients on the unit enjoy using the Wii and that it helps them in their recovery.”

Stroke unit physiotherapist, Sjoerd Jorritsma, said: “We would like to thank Jim and his friends at Urmston Men’s Club for this fantastic donation, which will help patients recovering from stroke. As well as being fun, there is some anecdotal evidence that Wii has therapeutic benefits by encouraging people who have experienced stroke to be active and practise their eye-hand coordination, balance and concentration.

“These are all skills that can be affected by stroke but rehabilitation can help people improve and make as good a recovery as possible. Our patients will now be able to use Wii as an additional part of that rehabilitation.”

Urmston Men’s Club president, Peter Radley, said: “Urmston Men’s Club is proud of its efforts in supporting local charities, and particularly Trafford General Hospital, and we will continue with our support. We wish the stroke unit continuing success with its efforts for local people. Due to Jim’s high profile on our committee, it was fitting to offer our support on this particular occasion.”