By JESSICA KERMAN
Playing video games was the last thing on 80-year-old Kathy Baker’s mind when she first heard that Countryside Manor, a local assisted care facility, bought a Nintendo Wii.
But on Wednesday, Baker was the first person of the day to get a strike during bowling hour.
As she swiftly swung the slender, white “wiimote”, aiming it toward the big-screen television in the facility’s activities room, residents watched intently as her ball knocked down all the digital pins on the screen.
The 10-person audience cheered and clapped when the strike was official, as if they were in a bowling alley.
“I enjoy it,” Baker said. “It gives us something to do in the afternoon. We play other games, but my favorite game is bowling.”
Countryside is one of the first assisted-living facilities in the county to buy a Wii for entertainment and therapy, following a large national trend.
According to a January article from Reuters, Nintendo sold more than 1.35 million Wii consoles in December alone, beating the 1.26 million XBox 360s and the 797,600 Playstation 3 consoles sold in the month.
Assisted-care facilities all over the United States have bought the Wii for their residents. A quick Google search would show hundreds of results about nursing homes using the console for therapy and entertainment.
Ann Bousman, activity director at Countryside, said she had heard that the games were stimulating and could be used by people who cannot use their legs.
“I had heard that you used your arms and sit down and do it,” she said. “It’s real stimulating for them. It works on hand-eye coordination, and it gets them using their arm muscles.”
The activities department at Countryside is sharing the Wii console with the therapy department, which is also using the games for occupational therapy, Bousman said.
“They’re bowling now, but then we’d like to add tennis and baseball,” she said.
One of the women who works at Countryside let the facility borrow her Wii to test it out, and now the home is looking for ways to buy a second one because of its popularity.
“I think it’s a good investment,” Bousman said. “Some of the residents are not able to do other things, but are able to do this. It gets them out of their rooms; it gets them involved.”
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February 3, 2008
6:48 p.m.: Residents get a 'Wii' bit of therapy
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