Nursing home residents into Nintendo
Residents at the Amity Nursing Home in Greenacre, NSW, are hooked on a new pastime – Nintendo Wii.
According to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, nursing homes around the country are incorporating video games into their activities’ programs as a way of keeping residents both mentally and physically stimulated.
“Not all 141 residents at Amity are fit to play,” she said, but the younger ones find the Wii incredibly simple to pick up, unlike more traditional games consoles.
At the Bribie Island Retirement Village in Queensland, competition in the Wii bowling game is fierce, with tournaments, trophies, a regular league game on Wednesdays and a social bowl on Mondays.
In the Shire of Yarra Ranges in Melbourne, children at the Tecoma Primary School teach groups of up to 12 of the shire’s elderly residents how to play the Nintendo DS, a portable hand held games machine.
The game of choice is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, which aims to give the brain a workout through various puzzles, including maths problems and word memory tests.
Many health experts say it wards off Alzheimer’s Disease.
Professor Tony Broe, a gerontologist and senior research officer at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, said video games would, for the most part, only be of value to low care patients, but “used in balance and moderation, this is yet another tool that engages the brain and keeps it active”.
