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Showing posts with label ▷ 2013 Nov 09. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ▷ 2013 Nov 09. Show all posts
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Video Games for Rehabilitation
Video Games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but it now implies any type of display device that can produce two or three dimensional images. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use. Video games have gone on to become an art form and industry.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Video Games |
Video Games for Rehabilitation - Video
Video Games Tested as Stroke Rehab Alternative
Published on Jun 18, 2013A new study in Canada will look at the effects of playing physically interactive video games, like the Nintendo Wii, on people who have suffered a stroke and are in the process of recovery.
A new study in Canada will look at the effects of playing physically interactive video games like the Nintendo Wii on people who have suffered a stroke and are in the process of recovery. 140 stroke patients are expected to participate in the study that will compare the effects of playing video games with other game activities like playing cards or dominoes.
Previous research has shown that video games might be a promising rehabilitation treatment for stroke patients. Dr. Sean Dukelow, stroke specialist with the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute said: "I'm betting on the virtual reality... Certainly, what we've seen is viable. It enhances the recovery of the brain... We are actually re-wiring areas of the brain that died from a stroke."
Another project called Limbs Alive creates video games and controllers specifically designed as physical therapy for stroke patients. Limbs Alive has worked with researchers from Newcastle University to design games that provide a stimulating and challenging way to make rehabilitation more fun.
Standard YouTube License @ GeoBeats News
Saturday Comics
| For Better and For Worse Lynn Johnston - 2008-08-28  "Iris?? Tell me the truth..." | Dilbert Scott Adams - 2013-11-04  "Some jerk steals my cables and replaces them..." |
Garfield Jim Davis - 2013/11/05  "Modern technology is a wondrous thing!" | Betty Delainey & Rasmussen - 2013/11/07  "The brain is like a muscle..." |
*For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. See as well the cartoonist Lynn Johnston.
** I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons. It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very low. Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using GoComics.com and Dilbert.com.
*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.
Eclectic Stuff
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Definition: Eclectic(noun) a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.
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Video Games + Tennis Balls + Anger = Recovery
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| Peter G. Levine Stronger After Stroke Blog |
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| Recovery Badass |
- "...nobody in the hospital was going to tell me how to get better ..."
- "I had to get out of hospital and cure myself."
- "...found that major strides had been made in America in treating stroke victims." (USA! USA! USA!)
Sunday Stroke Survivor ~ Video Games?
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| Jo Murphey The Murphey Saga |
A new research study out of Canada is using video games for stroke rehab. I thought "Wow, that will be a challenge!" My second thought was, "How could I do it one handed?" My third thought was, "Doh! You old timer you."
The reasons my thought processes worked like this is I've long been a supporter of making rehab fun no matter what your age is. If something is fun then you are more apt to do it. In fact I've mentioned the computer/internet games that I "play" to rebuild my cognitive deficits. Those are easy with a click of the mouse, but video games?Video Games Prove Best Therapy for Stroke Rehabilitation
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| Dean Reinke Deans' Stroke Musing |
Is your doctor, therapist and clinic going to accept this research? Or are you going to be stuck with boring repetitive exercises? Unless YOU tell your clinic you want this stuff it will take years to trickle down your leg. http://israel21c.org/news/video-games-prove-best-therapy-for-stroke-rehabilitation/
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| Stroke victims play video games as an alternative to traditional therapy because they’re more fun. Photo via Shutterstock |
New research from a Tel Aviv University study shows that people recovering from a stroke are more physically active during rehabilitation sessions when they play video games than those who rely on traditional motor therapy.
Occupational therapist Dr. Debbie Rand of Tel Aviv University’s Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, says her research shows that stroke victims who play video games in therapy make more movements overall than those in traditional motor therapy. In her study, players performed double the number of arm movements during each session compared to patients in traditional therapy, and all of their movements were purposeful or “goal-directed” and not just repetitive exercises.
Playing Games in Stroke Recovery?
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| Jeff Porter Stroke of Faith |
More potential tools for home recovery for stroke survivors. A Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute grant funds Ohio State researchers using Kinect for at-home stroke rehabilitation:
Lynne Gauthier, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, is leading the team creating a video game for the Microsoft Kinect that the team hopes could expand access to a specific kind of rehabilitation called constraint-induced movement therapy. The game would allow patients with mild-to-moderate upper-limb impairment to perform guided CI therapy in their homes.
The game uses Microsoft Kinect’s motion capture technology to guide patients through a series of therapeutic exercises set in a river adventure theme, Gauthier said. Patients would visit a clinic for initial consultation and the game would act as a consultant to guide them through exercises at home. Patients would also be given a restraint mitt to encourage them to use their affected side more often in daily activities.
“A lot of these kinds of rehab games are basically about just getting the person to move a lot,” she said. “But we’re trying to make it so that the game would stimulate what the therapist would do. Just as a therapist would make a task harder when the person improves, the game would do the same thing.”
See the original article:
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Wiihab Revolution
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| Pamela Hsieh Rehab Revolution |
I originally wanted to post about the yogic principle of mudita today, but since things often don't go as planned (at least in my reality), I thought I should speak a bit about something that came up today: an alternative, and usually a supplement, to the daily workout: the (in?)famous Wii. I'm beefing it up today with plenty of info, feedback, and suggestions, so get out your reading glasses and preferably your excitement.
Now, surely you have heard of the Wii. Revolutionary both to video games and rehabilitation, Wii's innovative adaptations to the gaming world has swept the world over, if not only out of curiosity.
But it doesn't come without its complaints. Gamers used to the solitary quality of previous and alternative consoles, like the Xbox360, often prefer the old-school solitude in single-user games (i.e., the stereotypical blow-everyone's-head-off war games like Call of Duty) or in any case, traditional multiplayer blow-everyone's-head-off games (Halo).
Wiihabilitation
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| Amy Shissler My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery |
When I was in the hospital, I used a Wii in occupational therapy. You know the Wii, the video game? I did bowling. At the time, I was absolutely hating everything and everyone and didn’t appreciate the fact that I was playing a video game at all. But now I do. You can find almost any activity on a Wii. It can be really helpful. At first I could barely even hold the controller let alone play a game. But I got better. Now I can play the Wii normally. Well I guess it’s not “normal” but it’s a ton better. I like this article. And this one.
See the original article:
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How to Change Your Own Mind, Literally
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| Joyce Huffman The Tales of a Stroke Patient |
"You can't be too skinny or too rich," said my old college buddy back in the 60s. But now you know the truth. Skinniness sometimes is related to anorexia or bulimia. And you've heard stories about the deaths of lottery winners who blew their money on drugs or died from being poisoned. My friend got it wrong. She should have said, "You can't be too brainy."
The brain controls everything, like our emotional outbursts to pain, our nervous eating, our ability to pee regularly, our resistance to confront people, our neurotic tastes. But what was thought prior to the 1970s--that the brain was fixed and couldn't be changed after early childhood--was wrong. The brain can process new experiences, like having a stroke, by creating neural pathways to accommodate them. Welcome to neuroplasticity, the game changer.
There are four key truths about neuroplasticity:
Brain Plasticity Will Blow Your Mind
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| Rebecca Dutton Home After a Stroke |
SSTattler: Good article - you have to read it!
New research on brain plasticity will blow your mind. One amazing finding is that new stem cells are produced in the lateral ventricals of the adult brain (1). What is even more amazing is how these stem cells migrate from the back of the brain to the olfactory bulb in the front of the brain (2). Using time lapse imaging scientists have been able to watch stem cells latch onto a blood vessel highway and drag themselves to their destination. First, brain chemicals push stem cells away from their birth place. Additional chemicals stop the stem cells from getting off track along the way. As the cells approach their destination more chemicals pull them in the right direction.
Good News & Bad News
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| Diane The Pink House On The Corner |
The bad news first --
My mom and dad who have been coming to visit us every year at this time for the past 15 years, are not here.
This because my father is not feeling well enough to travel.
And I do miss them dearly.
Now the good news --
My sister came instead! And yesterday, she (along with her travel companion) took me out to brunch where we sat across the street from the blue bay waters and sipped mimosas (a first for me) and ate goat cheese stuffed omelettes under an umbrella at an outdoor cafe. Afterwards, we toured the city and popped into a few open houses, just to check out the real estate market. And of course, I had to show them one of our more hokey tourist attractions:
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| My sister & friend at, yes, The Fountain of Youth! |
Anyway, I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much and so hard. Chris sat with Bob and told me that she would come as often as I needed her so that I can get out of the house, because, after this visit "it's back to jail" for me. (Her words.)
And my sister will be able to attend our mediation next week, so I wont have to do that alone.
So if this blog is quiet, you know why!
See the original article:
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Weird Mind Games
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| Robin Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor |
Sometimes I start to wonder if maybe I’ve always been like this. Most of the time, I am reasonable about it and know that it just started in January. But sometimes, like tonight, I find myself thinking…”Maybe I’ve always been like this…”
We’ve been really working to pare down my life to something manageable (hence the silence here on my blog). We’ve discovered that I can manage about two hours of productivity twice a day. We’ve had almost two weeks now of gradually cutting back my activities and I was just starting to feel human. Then today an exceptional amount of work that could not wait meant that I pushed myself to my limit…which is a frustratingly short four hours of work.
Healthcare
Thursday, October 31, 2013
I am do for a divorce soon. We were working on filing the papers when I hit a rough medical patch (stroke! tumor! an overabundance of intoxicatingly fun life happenings! I am being so sarcastic here...) He did not finalize the divorce and leave me in the lurch, instead, he kept me on his insurance and waited. As did I.
We are gearing up the paperwork again, and I am taking care of medical stuff I was procrastinating on.
My story is this:
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| Andrea A Year of Living In My Head |
I am do for a divorce soon. We were working on filing the papers when I hit a rough medical patch (stroke! tumor! an overabundance of intoxicatingly fun life happenings! I am being so sarcastic here...) He did not finalize the divorce and leave me in the lurch, instead, he kept me on his insurance and waited. As did I.
We are gearing up the paperwork again, and I am taking care of medical stuff I was procrastinating on.
My story is this:
Enough, Already?
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| Barb Polan Barb's Recovery |
Stroke survivors go to hundreds of medical appointments: physiatrist (to “manage” our rehab), PT, OT, seizure clinic, blood tests, MRI’s, speech therapists, psychotherapists, alternative medical treatments, ad nauseam.
The last thing we need is more appointments.
But my PCP is conscientious. His attitude is that I and my physiatrist are responsible for my stroke-related issues, but HE’s responsible for the rest of me, so his office harasses me about other health issues. In fact, Sally called me last week and “reminded” me that my mammogram was overdue.
It's a Frickin' Elephant
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| Jackie Poff Stroke Survivors Tattler |
My five-year old students are learning to read. Yesterday one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said,
"Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!"I took a deep breath, then asked...
"What did you call it?"And he says...
"It's a frickin' elephant! It says so on the picture!"And so it does...
"A f r i c a n Elephant"
Hooked on phonics! Ain't it wonderful?
Now that's funny, I don't care who you are!
The Difference Between Sympathy & Empathy. #Stroke
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| Katie Allatt A Rocky Stroke Recovery |
This blog was inspired by Chris Evans’s BBC radio 2 show ‘pause for thought’ on Friday 18th October 2013.
An individual suffers a huge trauma, pain or loss.
So their friend either offers them,
Sympathy ie,
‘O that’s awful, terrible, dreadful… Shall I get you a cheese sandwich?’Or
Empathy ie,
‘That’s awful, I do (or usually), I don’t understand what you are going through, but I’m here for you, in every sense if the word, through your up’s and downs.’
Hydration
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| Amy Shissler My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery |
Ok Dean, here’s where you and I need to have a duel. For a duel you only need one functional hand right? You need to drink a lot of water. If you let the brain get dehydrated, that’s bad. I drink Kangen water. Dean once said that this water is pseudoscience because it only has anecdotal evidence to support it. Well, take a look at this Dean. None of that is anecdotal. Alkaline, ionized water is more hydrating and acts as an antioxidant. Lots of people eat an alkaline diet in an attempt to alkalize the body. Well, you don’t have to be so strict when you drink this water, it makes alkalizing the body super easy. There’s a lot of websites out there that try to discredit this water. Well, there’s a lot of doctors that will tell you to do unbelievably harmful things. Disease cannot live in an alkaline environment. Don’t knock it `til you’ve tried it.
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