Dana Ryan of Wake Med is pleased to see the Wii used as part of a physical therapy program in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, victims of physical accidents and diseases are using the new video game console to help recover. The program was put into place when the wheelchair delivery person, a Wii owner, suggested that the console would help as a rehab tool.
“People don’t think of it as therapy. It’s fun. It’s a distraction, so the therapist can use it to do exercise activities that are hard to do,” says Ryan. Other therapists believe that the desire to play the Wii system could help rehab patients beyond their time at the hospital, urging them to continue to exercise with the game system after being released.
