Media Centre: In the News

Seniors choose the way of the Wii
Published March 21, 2009

By Alison Langley, Niagara Falls Review

Swinging her arm back, Lois Finkbeiner launches the ball toward the pins.

Eight pins fall, and the room at the Coronation 50 Plus Recreation Centre erupts in applause.

"This is so much fun," said the 81-year-old Niagara Falls resident.

The Summer Street centre doesn't have the money or space to install a bowling alley -but it did buy a Nintendo Wii gaming system.

Now it offers Wii games every Wednesday at 1 p. m. for a fee of 50 cents per player.

"I'm not a video game person at all, but this is incredibly fun," said 69-year-old Novajean Jamieson.

Members can select their activity from Wii Sports, a package of five popular games including bowling, tennis and golf.

Finkbeiner and Jamieson, both avid bowlers, opted to try their hand at virtual bowling.

"I'm a much better bowler on the Wii," Jamieson said with a laugh.

The Coronation Centre decided to enhance its fitness program with the Wii after seniors co-ordinator Hanya Goforth attended a conference hosted by the Older Adults Association of Ontario. She learned more and more seniors organizations are using the video game for exercise.

Playing virtual reality Wii games "allows you to exercise while having fun and increasing the health benefits for our members," Goforth said.

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Months before Wii first hit the market in 2006, Nintendo showed it off at an Association of American Retired Persons trade expo.

Dozens of games were donated to retirement residences across the U. S.

The aging population was seen as a lucrative market for the gaming industry.

According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, 25 per cent of people playing computer and video games are over 50 years of age.

The Wii's wireless controller - which translates a player's movements onto the screen -allows people with decreased mobility or motor function to easily play the games.

The system requires users to move the controller as if they are actually playing the sport, not merely press buttons.

That has led to reports that the games can benefit people who require mental and physical stimulation.

The 160 residents at Bella Senior Care in Chippawa have enjoyed playing Wii games for close to two years.

"A staff member had first mentioned it to me and I didn't even know what a Wii was," said Antoinetta Bruno, resident support services manager at the Willoughby Drive facility.

She did some research and found the video game system would be a perfect fit to promote physical activity and social interaction.

"The results are fabulous," she said.

"Our residents get a range of motion and exercise, and it brings back skills and memories of the past. Residents who used to play golf, tennis and bowling can again play the games they loved."

Studies are underway to determine the extent of how the video game system can benefit players.

In 2007, a rehabilitation hospital in Edmonton became the first in North America to use Wii technology to treat patients with movement and balance issues.

Last May, the University of South Carolina launched the Health Games Research Center to study how interactive games like Wii can be used as health-care tools.

According to some reports, Wii not only encourages physical activity, it also strengthens cognitive ability.

Research has shown that maintaining good brain health is one of the simplest ways to age well and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

At a recent conference on cognitive aging in Toronto, participants were told that people who create a cognitive reserve are better able to endure the aging process.

"If we maximize our brain function and do all the things we can to create new connections in our brain, it will reduce the effects of aging on the brain," said Marge Dempsey, acting CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Niagara Region.

To maintain a healthy aging brain, she said, individuals should focus on exercise, intellectual challenges, social interaction and nutrition.

That makes Wii an ideal activity -it meets three of those criteria.

"And if you munch on a banana while playing, you've got all four," Dempsey added. "Do everything you can to enrich the reserves in your brain."

Meanwhile, the Coronation Centre plans to introduce a few Wii tournaments to keen players.

"We can get our golfers ready for the upcoming season and possibly have some early entries for Wimbledon," Goforth joked.