Recycle your Wii to directly help stroke victims

Wii strokeA Sydney team is pioneering the use of the Nintendo Wii as a tool for stroke rehabilitation and you can help.

I was casting about for something to do with an old Wii console that has been supplanted in my children’s’ affections by an Xbox, when I came across this wonderful local initiative that uses the Wii to help rehabilitate stroke victims.

Dr Penelope McNulty and the Wii-Based Movement Therapy team are pioneering the use of the Nintendo Wii as a tool for stroke rehabilitation. A stroke is caused by either a bleed or blockage in blood vessels of the brain that leads to the death of brain cells. Dr McNulty’s data show that daily training with Wii-based Movement Therapy using Wii Sports begins to restore function and movement in the limb affected by the stroke. When someone has a stroke they often cannot work and must spend many months and years rehabilitating; this can result in financial hardship. NeuRA’s Wiicycle program aims to supply at-need stroke patients with a Wii so they can continue rehabilitation training after they have participated in our research. This is important because our research shows the more a stroke patient trains, the more they improve.

So if you have an old Nintendo Wii console sitting about gathering dust, this is a wonderful way to get it to do some good in the World. And even if you don’t have a console to donate, this isn’t a bad place to put some charitable cash.

For full details see the Neuroscience Research Australia website.

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