Study: Video Game Therapy May Help Patients Recover From a Stroke at Home
Study: Video Game Therapy May Help Patients Recover From a Stroke at Home
Study: Video Game Therapy May Help Patients Recover From a Stroke at Home
By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira
April 6, 2022
Summary
For some stroke patients, home-based video game therapy may be just as effective as other popular forms of in-person physical therapy, according to new research.
The study results also show that patients who engage in video game therapy require just one-fifth as much therapist time, which study authors said has important ramifications for therapists, allowing them to redirect time toward other patient interventions.
"The game itself acts as a virtual therapist because it's progressing the difficulty based on what the person can do. So just like a therapist would say, 'Okay, you're able to reach here now we're gonna move the object further away,' the game essentially does the same thing," Lynne V. Gauthier, PhD, director of the Neurorecovery and Brain Imaging Laboratory and associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, who led the study told Health.com.
The study found that the "Flipped model of care" through which therapist time is focused on behavioral interventions, and motor activities are entirely self-managed by patients via video game activities "Proved safe, feasible, and was preferred by client."
The video game that was utilized for rehabilitation, Recovery Rapids, relies upon a motion sensor and real life movement in order to initiate the movement of a character in the game.
Additional challenges within the game include crashing into a bush and moving the video game character's arms into a grab, grasp, and release in an effort to collect as much food as possible.
This type of therapy, which was also used in the control group for the video game therapy comparison, was developed to overcome upper limb impairments after stroke.
Reference
Solis-Moreira, J. (2022, April 6). Study: Video game therapy may help patients recover from a stroke at home. Health. https://www.health.com/condition/stroke/video-game-therapy-stroke-patients-recover