Mildred Gilcrest with fellow residents Iris Brown, Teressa Noden, Doris Palmer

Hi-tech consoles go down a storm at centre for elderly

The very latest in games console technology is helping vulnerable elderly people regain their independence while they enjoy some serious fun.

Residents at Staffordshire County Council's Brighton House, a care home that specialises in "reablement" and dementia related illnesses, now have access to Wii and the brand new Wii Fit games.

And they're proving so popular that the home is considering developing a mini-league to discover who is the Wii champion.

Yvonne Hunter, manager of the home in Silverdale near Newcastle-under-Lyme, said: "We've had the games for about a month now and they are fantastic for helping assess the residents and helping them regain their independence.

Jayne Johnson, Occupational Therapy Assistant, explained: "The people in the home are typically in their 80s and 90s. They grew up long before this type of technology was developed, so the Wii is totally new to most of them. Learning to use them requires concentration, co-ordination and physical effort which are exactly what we want to assess and develop. This can help make the difference between being dependent on others and gaining independence."

The most popular Wii game is 10-pin bowling, but residents also enjoy tennis and even boxing.

Possibly the most important thing that the games bring is the fun factor.

Yvonne said: "We're always looking for new forms of entertainment and this has been great. Because Wii is physically demanding it provides great exercise, but it is wonderful for socialising. Some of the residents get really competitive and we have talked about setting up a Wii league."

"The bowling is great because it needs real co-ordination and mental and physical skills while providing gentle exercise. Boxing and tennis are more energetic. The Wii Fit really demands good physical skills so we are testing it out very carefully and only when we are absolutely certain it is appropriate for individual residents."

Resident Mildred Gilchrist, aged 85, said: It was great I really enjoyed it.  It was good exercise something you wouldn't think of doing yes it was great.  I can't wait to use it again I really had a good time we all had fun and a good time."

Susan Woodward, the county council's Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities and Older People believes innovations like this are helping achieve the authority's key goal of helping vulnerable elderly people with their independence.

She said: "Reablement is all about helping people take control of their lives again. Far too often in the past there has been an attitude that because people's skills and fitness have deteriorated they need to be in hospital or a home. All-to-often that is counter-productive and just leads to people feeling insitutionalised and dependent.

"Using readily available technology like the Wii helps people recapture some of their skills in a controlled way that can be assessed. It helps us plan with them how they can get their independence back, and the fact that it's also fun is a huge bonus.

"The team at Brighton House are helping pioneer new way of helping older people to thrive."

Reablement is all about helping people recovering from illness or injury by regaining basic skills and independence.  Social Care and Health's programme for change has always been led by its aspirations to promote independence, choice and well being and Brighton House is a prime example of how we have moved from institutionalised care to what we always promised we would do.

Page Last Modified: 19/09/2008 11:42:45

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