Video gaming and medical worlds combine to solve health problems

Researchers from the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute are leading initiatives which use video games as part of rehabilitation for the injured and elderly.

The Institute currently uses a Nintendo Wii to evaluate the potential for rehabilitation of upper limb function in stroke patients and they have also developed a modified version of the popular "Dance Dance Revolution" video game to help reduce the risk of falls in elderly Australians.

The Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute researchers will present their video game research to Australia’s top video game developers at the Games for Health Forum at the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) annual conference in Melbourne this Sunday.

"We have already shown that older adults and those individuals recovering from a stroke really enjoy playing video games and that there are health benefits associated with game play," Dr Stuart Smith, from the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and Chair of a Games for Health interest group within the Health Informatics Society of Australia, said.

"In particular, we have been using the ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ video game with older adults (75 and over) and have shown that improvements in stepping responses are important for balance control and prevention of falls. Falls are a major problem for older adults and we need to do all we can to reduce the chance of falls occurring. Exercise is a great way to do this and we are exploring ways in which video games can help engage older people in these exercises."

"The potential to develop new games for particular forms of rehabilitation or management of medical problems is enormous."

"Ultimately we can see the world of medical research working with game development companies to create dedicated games for the rehabilitation of stroke, spinal cord injury patients and balance control in older Australians."

Mike McNabb, Chief Operating Officer of the GDAA, said the game development industry was very keen to work with medical researchers.

"Our developers are as good as any in the world. Funding will be crucial but the potential is enormous for both industries. A working party bringing together developers and medical researchers should be the next step," he said.

(Source: Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute: December 2009)