Wii FINDS HOME IN RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES, MEDICAL CENTERS

The Nintendo Wii is making inroads not only with non-traditional video game players but also in unlikely places.

At retirement communities, the Wii is transforming the social scene into a whole new game. At medical centers, the game system is being plugged into rehabilitation regimens.

An arts and crafts room at Riderwood Retirement Community in Silver Spring, Md., on a recent afternoon had the feel of a bowling alley.

"Some are embarrassed to try at first in front of people. They think they can't do it," says Earl Davis, 73, a resident and retired Marine, who showed newcomers how to use the Wii remote to bowl. "Sometimes I have to take their hand and play it with them. But once they get it, you can see the change in some people. They are more talkative and have a sense of humor. There's a lot of joking going on in here."

Use of the Wii in retirement communities nationwide, estimated at fewer than 100 sites so far, is growing, says Majd Alwan, director of the Center for Aging Technologies in Washington. "We are noticing that it has the potential to increase the socialization when used in groups or congregate living settings, both among peers and intergenerational."

At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center occupational therapist Hector Romero is looking forward to seeing whether the Wii Fit program fits into the occupational therapy clinic's toolset, too. "The Wii has kind of sparked a nerve in the therapy world," he says. "It has set off a new age of electronic treatment."

No medical association has taken an official stance on the Wii, but studies have begun. Medical College of Georgia researchers are looking at whether playing games on the Wii can maintain or increase motor skills in patients with Parkinson's disease.

-Abridged from: “ Wii finds home in retirement communities, medical centers” , By Mike Snider, USA TODAY, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-05-14-wii-retirement-medical-centers_N.htm; cited in ElderLaw News from ElderLawAnswers, June 2008.

06/08