Rehabilitation for dementia using enjoyable video-sports games

Abstract

The aging of society inevitably leads to an increase in the numbers of elderly with dementia who reside in nursing homes, and delaying disease progression of residents with dementia has become a big concern. Rehabilitation that focuses directly on training cognitive function (e.g. memory training) reveals what patients are unable to do. Realization of their cognitive deficits can devastate their self-confidence and lead to anxiety, depression and the lowering of self-esteem (Small et al., 1997). We propose rehabilitation that encourages patients' motivation for self-improvement through social interaction based on five principles as follows: (1) the activities should be enjoyable and comfortable for patients, (2) therapists should praise the patients naturally to motivate them, (3) the activities should be associated with empathetic two-way communication to make patients feel valued and safe, (4) therapists should encourage the patients to play “social roles” to restore self-worth, and (5) error-less learning based on brain-activating rehabilitation (BAR; Yamaguchi et al., in press) should be adopted wherever possible. It is suggested that the positive feelings activate those areas of the brain related to reward, which plays a critical role in motivation (Berridge et al., 2003), and it is a typical social reward to be praised and appreciated in public.

Towards exergaming commons: composing the exergame ontology for publishing open game data

“…In the latter papers, it was implied that the perceived, by the elderly users, usefulness of the physical exercise through exergames contributes to their motivation and their subsequent adherence to the exercise protocol. In accordance with other studies, it was also reported that exergames can positively impact many health areas, such as balance, gait [9], motion control [10], quality of life [5], mood and sociability [11, 12], self-esteem and reduced risk for depression [13]. Regular exercise at home could help to prevent diseases aggravated by a sedentary life imposed by conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and stroke [14].…”

Recommendations for the Use of Serious Games in Neurodegenerative Disorders: 2016 Delphi Panel

“…In the field of training, most of the research work so far has been conducted employing commercial video-games and cognitive games (such as Wii Fit and Wii Sport, Lumosity) designed for an entertaining purpose, and with a ‘typical’ healthy user in mind. In their review on the use of video-games in people with dementia-related disorders, McCallum and Boletsis (2013) showed that: (a) Exergames, i.e., games that promote physical condition and/or aerobic fitness can positively affect several areas of mobility in participants with mild AD and MCI, such as balance and gait (Padala et al, 2012), and voluntary motor control (Legouverneur et al, 2011); (b) cognitive games can improve cognitive functions, such as attention and memory (Stavros et al, 2010; Weybright et al, 2010) and visuo-spatial abilities (Yamaguchi et al, 2011); (c) physical and cognitive games can have a positive impact on social and emotional functions, for instance they can improve the mood and increase positive affect and sociability (Weybright et al, 2010; Boulay et al, 2011) and reduce depression (Férnandez-Calvo et al, 2011). As the field is young, less evidence is available on the efficacy of SG specifically designed for the training of people with ND.…”

Recommendations for the use of Serious Games in people with Alzheimer's Disease, related disorders and frailty

“…McCallum and Boletsis (2013) performed a literature review of the experimental studies conducted to date on the use of SG in neurodegenerative disorders. In summary, the results of the 15 reported studies suggest that: (1) physical games (or exergames, i.e., games that promote physical fitness) can positively affect several health areas of the players with mild AD and MCI, such as balance and gait (Padala et al, 2012), and voluntary motor control (Legouverneur et al, 2011); (2) cognitive games (i.e., games which target cognitive improvement) can improve a number of cognitive functions, such as attention and memory (Stavros et al, 2010; Weybright et al, 2010; Rosen et al, 2011) and visuo-spatial abilities (Yamaguchi et al, 2011); (3) both physical and cognitive games can have a positive impact on social and emotional functions, for instance they can improve the mood and increase positive affect and sociability (Weybright et al, 2010; Boulay et al, 2011; Yamaguchi et al, 2011) and reduce depression (Férnandez-Calvo et al, 2011). Very few studies investigated the effects of the use of games for social/emotional health (which encourage the players to link with their friends and/or improve their social and emotional life) in dementia, but the results are encouraging (Boulay et al, 2011).…”