2023-06-28 10:36:00
Gaming has a positive effect on the brain The main focus is on special therapeutic games Test procedures are already being carried out in German old people’s homes
Residents of retirement homes should Improve physical and mental fitness through video games. For this purpose, special game consoles have now been produced that are already being used in practice. In the following we summarize the current scientific status.
Gaming and the Effects on the Brain
The therapeutic power of video games and gaming has long been underestimated. Scientists have known for many years that the spatial orientation, memory formation, strategic thinking and fine motor skills be improved by playing video games. That also shows one Study by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Psychiatric University Clinic of the Charité in the St. Hedwig Hospital. Even in people who are already older than 70 years, the relevant brain areas have increased as a result of gaming. Board games have always been popular in retirement and nursing homes. Both as a mental activity and for fine motor skills as well as to build communities. Card games, dice games or guessing games are often used. Nationwide are already being used in many care facilities senior-friendly video games tested. One example is the game console from the start-up Retrobrain.
All residents receive a card with a QR code, which can be used to individual game selection is taken for her. Finally, there are also some games that should be avoided. For example, it makes little sense for a heart patient to sweat at a digital ping-pong table, or for a stroke patient to deliver letters on a digital mail bike. The one made by the start-up MemoreBox uses a Kinect camera to transmit the player’s movements directly into the game. All games can be played sitting or standing. Numbers of errors or reaction times are saved and can be analyzed by the nursing staff. As a result, the games have a therapeutic added value. Another advantage of this type of gaming is that the residents can do it alone. In times of a shortage of skilled workers, no additional support is required.
The games are optimally adapted to the age of the patients. Anyone who is around 80 years old today probably had their own “high” in the 1960s. Therefore, in the background of the games become popular Played hits from that time, such as “Bay of Biscay” by Freddy Quinn. The explanatory voice corresponds acoustically to the type “sympathetic son-in-law”. In addition, the daily use of video games should also counteract the dementia process. Researchers are working on this question University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf followed up: On the one hand, physical exercise has proven to be helpful in the treatment and prevention of dementia, on the other hand, video games have one Effect on the brain structure and lead to an enlargement of the hippocampus. It is important that the players develop a three-dimensional idea, i.e. move in a virtual space. It doesn’t matter whether you train your brain in a virtual or real environment, the power of memory increases.
Daddy against dementia
Gaming hat the potentialat least that delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia. That would be a milestone in the fight against the disease, since there are still hardly any pharmacological options. At the moment there is often a lack of time in German nursing homesin order to deal sufficiently with the seniors and to promote cognitive and physical abilities.
This also happens with a game console, such as the MemoreBox without the involvement of nurses. In the games, residents throw balls at a bowling alley or deliver letters on a bicycle in a virtual city. You make yourself the natural human instinct to play and can also ensure more fun and joy in the everyday life of the seniors.
The special feature of therapeutic video games, for example, is that small details such as a route to be noted and then have to be accessed again during physical activity. The Mixture of physical and cognitive activity should ultimately be the benefit. Ability to concentrate, perseverance and memory are trained in the same way as the sense of balance.
Preventive measures can promote health in old age
In science, therapeutic video games are called serious games. There is also exergaming, which refers to video games in which motor skills are required. Also the well-known manufacturers of consoles and games have now opened up this market. So offers Xbox for example an adaptive controller so that people with physical disabilities can also participate in the game. In tests of classic games, car and airplane simulations have proven to be particularly popular.
That may be because these games a connection to their own environment produce. This also applies to the farming simulator or fishing games with which Feelings reproduced from the past become. However, therapeutic effects can be demonstrated primarily in games specially made for this purpose. Classic games continue to serve more as leisure activities. Likewise, serious games are already being used in the psychotherapy used: On the one hand, the games can be used for diagnostics: How does a person deal with insults and defeats? How do patients deal with new situations? How do you manage teamwork?
You can also show possible parallels between the game and reality, for example how a person deals with game characters and how with real people. Many can use the detour of the game real relationships discussed become. New starting points in the field of elderly care could also be established in this way, in order to be able to respond even better to aging people.
Conclusion
Therapeutic games on consoles specially produced for this purpose have proven to be beneficial in strengthening the cognitive and motor skills of older people. In the future, many nursing homes will rely on this type of support, especially since no additional staff is required. Whether older people accept the offer is of an individual nature, after all, people did not grow up with this technology. But even digital natives will eventually become residents of a retirement home and could then be part of a completely new form of therapy.
1688011496
#Video #Games #Improve #Cognitive #Skills