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Rehab patients become Wii Sports warriors

By Mike Camunas, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

WILL VRAGOVIC | Times

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SPRING HILL

They crowd together in their wheelchairs.

They cheer. They watch intently. They take the controller and swing it, sending a shiny blue ball toward 10 pins.

They're residents at Evergreen Woods Health and Rehabilitation Center playing with a Nintendo Wii.

"That game, I never played in my life until I came here," said 59-year-old resident Bill Echavarry, who suffers from diabetes. "I'm hooked. Whenever I get out of here, I'm buying it for my house and if I don't get out of here soon, I'm buying one for my room."

The rehabilitation center focuses on long-term care for patients who need to recover from falls, strokes, or hip and/or knee surgeries, and eventually, if they get better or choose to, the patients can go home.

Evergreen is using the gaming system and the Wii Sports video game, which has five sports to play — baseball, bowling, golf, tennis and boxing — as physical therapy. As rehab coordinator Scott Beveridge says, the Wii (pronounced "we") is an ideal way for patients to stay active.

"It's a wonderful tool to use on patients to see how much energy they're using," Beveridge said. "We have them stand up for a whole game of bowling and we'll see some legs buckle. They realize if they focus their energy on one thing, it wears them out. That's important for us as physical therapists because we teach energy conservation."

Beveridge says the program is also focusing on high-level dynamic balance activities, such as having to react when their balance is thrown. Say the patients are in a real-life situation, at a mall or a store. Beveridge says that the skills they need — to walk, to stand — are important, especially if someone bumps or runs by them, because they have to be able to react appropriately. The Wii helps keep reaction time and reflexes sharp.

Beveridge added that, "The most difficult part was to teach them the coordination" to use the controller, saying the button on the back of the Wii remote throws off the older patients, but once he teaches them to hold it properly, he then shadows them to help learn the actions of the game.

"I picked it up right away," said Cecelia Rein, 72, who suffered a stroke about a year ago. "It's good exercise for me and it keeps the mind sharp. I'm really glad they got it because it keeps us active. … And at the end (of the therapy) you're wiped out, but that's okay, because you rest a little and feel better."

Added 70-year-old Charlotte Simpson: "I didn't know anything about it, but now I play every day and I love it. It's the idea of getting out of the room and doing something because it's so good for your therapy."

For Echavarry, it's a way to get back to bowling regularly, something he used to do before his health worsened.

"It's like a chess game for me, mentally," Echavarry said. "It keeps me going and I never thought I'd bowl again and here I am, bowling on a video game. That's bowling for me now, and physically, all the motion that I have to go through, God, it keeps my upper body in shape.

"Now, nobody wants to play me now. I hate that."

Perhaps Echavarry can play in the upcoming Wii Bowling Tournament on Thursday, but for now, he and the other patients, some as old as 94, will continue to play video games. They're beneficial, not only physically, but socially, as many make new friends through competition. But Beveridge is sure there's no way Nintendo could foresee the Wii being used in therapy.

"Obviously, this was made for children to play video games with high-energy level," Beveridge said, "but the applications have really surpassed anyone's expectations. Most of these folks love to come down here and play the Wii, but now it's become so popular, we have to schedule times for people. Everyone wants to play it."

Submit story ideas and feedback to Community Sports Editor Mike Camunas at mcamunas@sptimes.com or call (352) 544-9480.