So, I saw this blurb on Wii Nintendo Fanboy, referring to a press release discussing how the Medical College of Georgia has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the National Parkinson Foundation to test 30 individuals for improvements in their Parkinson’s symptoms by playing the Wii.
More specifically:
“‘Occupational therapy looks at how the illness affects the patient’s whole life, from the psychological, cognitive and sensory motor standpoints,’ says Dr. Ben Herz, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Allied Health Sciences and a study principal investigator along with Dr. John Morgan, neurologist. ‘Our therapists are responsible for helping someone maintain or gain their independence with functional activities.’
“While occupational therapy is frequently used in the comprehensive care of Parkinson’s patients, evidence is needed to support its short- or long-term effectiveness, says Dr. Herz.
“’We’re hoping to show a slowing of the progression of the disease and a decrease in medication while increasing function. If we can teach patients to exercise and do functional activities, maybe we can have them take less medications,’ he says.”
Anyway, this is an idea I had…but…didn’t write a grant for it. I’m wondering if I could have gotten such a thing past my Prelim committee, and have Dr. Westfall playing Wii Sports during my exam…would have been more fun… 🙂
Hello
The monies were for OT intervention and the Wii is a modality to facilitate the functional movement and should not be sensationalized although it has increased balance, endurance and bilateral movement…your headline is misleading and I do not want anyone to think that the NPF gave us 30,000 to play games…it was for both qualitative and quantative research concerning Occupational Therapy and it efforts to assist the Parkinson’s population in gaining independence…and we have good outcomes to support it …thanks for your time
Dr. Ben Herz