Wii finds home in retirement communities, medical centers

WASHINGTON -- 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."

After Carol Fales, 63, shot a 198, she said, "I have progressed. I didn't think it could be done from a wheelchair."

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."

All 21 Erickson retirement communities nationwide — Riderwood included — have at least one Wii. Riderwood has four, and several residents, including Davis, have bought their own. The residents are organizing a Wii bowling league, and a Wii Olympics is in the works for the summer, says Riderwood spokesman Dan Dunne. "It truly is reflective of an active retirement community lifestyle," he says.

Each of Leisure Care's 40-plus retirement communities has a Wii as well. Three days a week, Wii game sessions can be found on the social calendar, and personal trainers have incorporated Wii golf and tennis games into residents' workout plans, says Luke Frank, who directs Leisure Care's PrimeFit program.

Twenty miles south of Riderwood at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, wounded Army soldier Chris Schroeder, 24, of Orange County, Calif., is all smiles after besting occupational therapist Hector Romero at bowling.

Schroeder uses the bowling and baseball games to make him flex his right elbow, which he fractured April 14 while investigating a home near Kirkuk, Iraq. During the night search, Schroeder fell through a hole in the roof he was crossing, broke his right elbow and fractured three bones in his left wrist.

The game, Schroeder says, "helps with range of motion and helps me extend and push it as far as I can go. It helps me push myself in a fun way."

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.

Occupational therapists are using the Wii "quite a bit, considering how new it is," says Laurel Cargill Radley of the American Occupational Therapy Association.