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We all appreciate the importance of physical activity for the maintenance of health and the prevention of adverse health outcomes. I frequently struggle with how to motivate patients to physically exert themselves in a meaningful, consistent, and self-sustaining way.
Technology, in the form of video game systems, has been bandied about as a way to get patients moving. The Nintendo Wii console has become popular in hospitals, residential care facilities, and rehabilitation programs as a means to engage patients in physical activity.
As a consumer of modern technology, I frequently, and likely erroneously, assume that my patients love gadgets as much as I do. When I tell my older patients to consider a video game system as a component of a physical activity program, are my words falling on deaf ears? Recently published data suggest that I need to curb my enthusiasm, at least for now, among my older patients.
Kate Laver of Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, and colleagues, conducted a discrete choice analysis (DCE) among 21 participants prior to and following several sessions of the Wii Fit in physiotherapy. Participants were selected from a geriatric rehabilitation unit in South Australia. A physiotherapist prescribed Wii Fit activities and supervised patients during therapy sessions. Patients had a mean age of 85 years and most were female (86%). After an average of 6 sessions, participants expressed an aversion to the Wii as a therapeutic intervention and preferred traditional therapy programs (BMC Geriatrics 2011,11:64 doi:10.1186/1471-2318-11-64).
The findings highlight the importance of carefully considering the likely preferences of different cohorts of patients. Indeed, game consoles require comfort with a video interface, and this fact may pose challenges to people who are not comfortable with menu navigation and remote control. Middle-aged patients (i.e, my generation) will be significantly more likely to embrace this technology and new applications of it should be continue to be sought. I typically do not encourage my octogenarians to invest in a Wii, but what about people younger than that? The “iPhone generation” will not only prefer, but might likely expect this option when it becomes necessary for others to motivate us to engage in physical activity.
Jon O. Ebbert, M.D., is a professor of medicine and a primary care clinician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He reports having no conflicts of interest. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
We all appreciate the importance of physical activity for the maintenance of health and the prevention of adverse health outcomes. I frequently struggle with how to motivate patients to physically exert themselves in a meaningful, consistent, and self-sustaining way.
Technology, in the form of video game systems, has been bandied about as a way to get patients moving. The Nintendo Wii console has become popular in hospitals, residential care facilities, and rehabilitation programs as a means to engage patients in physical activity.
As a consumer of modern technology, I frequently, and likely erroneously, assume that my patients love gadgets as much as I do. When I tell my older patients to consider a video game system as a component of a physical activity program, are my words falling on deaf ears? Recently published data suggest that I need to curb my enthusiasm, at least for now, among my older patients.
Kate Laver of Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, and colleagues, conducted a discrete choice analysis (DCE) among 21 participants prior to and following several sessions of the Wii Fit in physiotherapy. Participants were selected from a geriatric rehabilitation unit in South Australia. A physiotherapist prescribed Wii Fit activities and supervised patients during therapy sessions. Patients had a mean age of 85 years and most were female (86%). After an average of 6 sessions, participants expressed an aversion to the Wii as a therapeutic intervention and preferred traditional therapy programs (BMC Geriatrics 2011,11:64 doi:10.1186/1471-2318-11-64).
The findings highlight the importance of carefully considering the likely preferences of different cohorts of patients. Indeed, game consoles require comfort with a video interface, and this fact may pose challenges to people who are not comfortable with menu navigation and remote control. Middle-aged patients (i.e, my generation) will be significantly more likely to embrace this technology and new applications of it should be continue to be sought. I typically do not encourage my octogenarians to invest in a Wii, but what about people younger than that? The “iPhone generation” will not only prefer, but might likely expect this option when it becomes necessary for others to motivate us to engage in physical activity.
Jon O. Ebbert, M.D., is a professor of medicine and a primary care clinician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He reports having no conflicts of interest. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
We all appreciate the importance of physical activity for the maintenance of health and the prevention of adverse health outcomes. I frequently struggle with how to motivate patients to physically exert themselves in a meaningful, consistent, and self-sustaining way.
Technology, in the form of video game systems, has been bandied about as a way to get patients moving. The Nintendo Wii console has become popular in hospitals, residential care facilities, and rehabilitation programs as a means to engage patients in physical activity.
As a consumer of modern technology, I frequently, and likely erroneously, assume that my patients love gadgets as much as I do. When I tell my older patients to consider a video game system as a component of a physical activity program, are my words falling on deaf ears? Recently published data suggest that I need to curb my enthusiasm, at least for now, among my older patients.
Kate Laver of Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, and colleagues, conducted a discrete choice analysis (DCE) among 21 participants prior to and following several sessions of the Wii Fit in physiotherapy. Participants were selected from a geriatric rehabilitation unit in South Australia. A physiotherapist prescribed Wii Fit activities and supervised patients during therapy sessions. Patients had a mean age of 85 years and most were female (86%). After an average of 6 sessions, participants expressed an aversion to the Wii as a therapeutic intervention and preferred traditional therapy programs (BMC Geriatrics 2011,11:64 doi:10.1186/1471-2318-11-64).
The findings highlight the importance of carefully considering the likely preferences of different cohorts of patients. Indeed, game consoles require comfort with a video interface, and this fact may pose challenges to people who are not comfortable with menu navigation and remote control. Middle-aged patients (i.e, my generation) will be significantly more likely to embrace this technology and new applications of it should be continue to be sought. I typically do not encourage my octogenarians to invest in a Wii, but what about people younger than that? The “iPhone generation” will not only prefer, but might likely expect this option when it becomes necessary for others to motivate us to engage in physical activity.
Jon O. Ebbert, M.D., is a professor of medicine and a primary care clinician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He reports having no conflicts of interest. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.