Video Games May Soon Be Part of Your Physical Therapy

Games for Health recently had their national conference and they had presentations on the many ways  that video games will become more and more a part of rehab and therapy efforts. For example, in a Games for Health conference highlight, a version of the popular video game Guitar Hero was unveiled that is designed to aid arm amputee rehabilitation.

Red Hill Studios presented its findings about the use of PDWii to aid balance and mobility in Parkinson’s patients. PDwii is currently being developed by Red Hill Studios and the UCSF School of Nursing, with funding by the NIH.

They say that quantifiable results are being used to track patient progress and are being integrated into the patient's overall regime.

Results will be used to benefit further innovations in the field of games for health.

For younger patients, there is Ditto, a "multi-modal distraction device" designed to control pain and stress among patients undergoing burn and orthopedic medical procedures.