By Sheena Davis
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“Occupational therapy is a holistic, patient-centered,
occupation-based approach to life skill development.”
Occupations- everything you do
Various domains
Physical and mental
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Adaptation
Improvement
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Upper body
 Games
can be used in the world of OT to
improve effectiveness of interventions, make
interventions more enjoyable for the
patients, and make interventions easily
implemented.
Virtual Rehabilitation
 Nintendo Wii
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Burn patients
Bowling, Tennis, Cooking Mama, GT Pro Series, and
Big Brain Academy
63 OTs and PTs
59% agreed that it would be beneficial for burn
patients
85% of burn therapists
Recover motor deficits
Functional movement
Distraction from pain
Can be used at home
 Commercial
gaming systems/ games don’t
allow for the adjustment of difficulty
 Growing with Timocco
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Adjustable background and sounds
Two-Player mode
Both physical and cognitive exercises
 Created
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Can continue use at home
 The
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to be used on a PC
Study
Dyspraxic 5 year old child
Improved motor skills
Improved posture
Disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, can keep
children from participating in “normal” play
 “Secondary social, emotional, and psychological
disabilities”
 Lowered self-competence
 Study on the effects of VR
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19 children with CP; ages 8-13
Mandala Gesture X-treme VR system (Vivid Group
Inc.)
 “I mostly don’t win stuff mostly. So when I play up
here I get a chance to.”
 “It is kinda like making a dream come alive”
 “Feelings of increased self-worth, confidence, and
competence”
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Playful Toothbrush
 Motivate effective brushing
 Web camera to capture brushing motion
 Tooth brush extension with LED markers
 LCD display of virtual uncleaned teeth
 Teeth brushing game
 Playful
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Tray
Eliminate poor eating behaviors
Weight-sensitive tray
Racing or Fishing Game
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Playful Tray
Four children and their parents
 2 with Asperger Syndrome
 1 with high functioning Autism
 1 with no diagnosis
 Increase in social behavior
 33% reduction in eating time
 20% reduction in time spent not eating
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Playful toothbrush
13 children; ages 6 and 7
 Cleanliness of teeth increased from 32% to 67%
 Number of brush strokes increased from 190 to 248
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 The
use of video games in OT is promising
 There are still flaws
 Studies still being conducted
Fung, Vera, Ken So, Esther Park, Aileen Ho, Jennifer Shaffer, Elaine Chan,
and Manuel Gomez. "The Utility Of A Video Game System In
Rehabilitation Of Burn And Nonburn Patients: A Survey Among
Occupational Therapy And Physiotherapy Practitioners." Journal of
Burn Care & Research: 768-75. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Halton, Jonathan. "Virtual Rehabilitation with Video Games: A New Frontier
for Occupational Therapy." Occupational Therapy Now 10.1 (2008):
12-4. ProQuest. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Lo, Jin-Ling, Pei-Yu (Peggy) Chi, Hao-Hua Chu, Hsin-Yen Wang, and Seng-Cho
T. Chou. "Pervasive Computing in Play-Based Occupational Therapy
for Children." IEEE Pervasive Computing: 66-73. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Miller, Stacey, and Denise Reid. "Doing Play: Competency, Control, and
Expression." CyberPsychology & Behavior: 623-32. Web. 5 Apr.
2015.
Tresser, S, "Case Study: Using a Novel Virtual Reality Computer Game for
Occupational Therapy Intervention," Presence, 21.3 (2012): 359371. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.