Digital games emerge as new tool to foster health, exercise: Playing for health

Entire Gaming Setup (Photo credit: Cinder6)

The Wii console by Nintendo. Featured with the Wiimote. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Digital games emerge as new tool to foster health, exercise: Playing for health

From the Nation’s Health

These days, students at Halcyon Elementary School in Montgomery, Ala., cannot wait to get to physical education class.

As part of Alabama’s Wee Can Fight Obesity campaign, Halcyon Elementary is one of dozens of schools that received a free Nintendo Wii Fit, a video game system that requires players to move around to earn points, also known as ‘exergaming.’

“They don’t even realize they’re exercising,” said Audrey Gillis, the school’s PE teacher. “It’s fabulous.”

Gillis’ students use the Wii two to three times a week during the 30-minute PE class and “they just love it — we actually had some of the little children cry because it wasn’t their Wii day,” she said.

“These kids are active for 30 minutes straight — they don’t stop,” Gillis told The Nation’s Health. “If we can get them to enjoy physical activity as children, then they’re more likely to stay physically active as adults.”

Gillis’ experience is just one example of the growing intersections between public health and digital games. While using game-related challenges in public health endeavors is not new, video games and avatar-based simulations are emerging as an effective way of teaching healthy behaviors.

Related articles (including refutes)

• Active Wii video games don’t mean kids exercise more (parentcentral.ca)
• Make Fitness Fun (education.com)
• Wii isn’t making kids fit (canada.com)
• Active Video Games and Children’s Physical Activity (expsychlab.com)

Concerned about health related issues in your community? Volunteermatch.org just might be the answer.

Many (most??) of my postings here address problems, concerns, and challenges related to health. However, I am hopeful that while many won’t “go away”, we do have the power to alleviate many of them. One way to be part of these efforts is to volunteer.

Recently I have started to volunteer at the local Area Office on Aging. This agency is wonderfully connected to the community, including outreach efforts. The volunteers here are valued for their skills as customer service, event planning, and document/brochure creation. Mundane tasks as envelope staffing are kept to a minimum. Presently I am assisting in interviewing folks to see what programs they may be eligible for to meet their nutrition and medical needs. It can be a bit exhausting at times, but it is always rewarding.

Do you have the time and/or inclination to address health or social issues in your community? Either a weekly commitment or periodically at events?
Volunteermatch.org is a great place to start.
The advanced search allows you to limit your search by

• Geographical area
• Keywords and skills
• Organization and Preferred Partners (as American Red Cross)
• Thirty (30) Opportunity Interest Areas including Emergency/Safety, Environment, Health & Medicine, Crisis Support, Disaster & Emergency, and Homelessness/Housing
• Age (Great For area) – Kids, Teens, 55+

Related articles

• Compassion + Caring For Others = Happiness (rainbowinclouds.wordpress.com)
• Want to volunteer? There’s an app for that (goerieblogs.com)

Skeptical Scalpel: Robots attack America, but Canada not so much

A laparoscopic robotic surgery machine. Patient-side cart of the da Vinci surgical system. Into the sealed Computer God Robot Operating Cabinet, as a Frankenstein slave, at night. Da Vinci Surgical System. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robotic surgery has its place. However, robotic surgery is not superior to traditional surgery in every case or for every surgery candidate.  It is best to discuss the pros and cons (and alternatives)  of any surgical procedure with trusted health care professionals.
Discussion starters below under Related Resources.

Why I am posting this? Partly because a recent article in my local newspaper read more like an advertisement for robotic surgery than an unbiased news item.  It seemed to have been written the surgeon interviewed (or at least had only one source of information — the surgeon who touted robotic devices). Am seriously considering a letter to the editor gently inquiring about their journalistic standards. I know they have a skeletal staff of reporters, and no longer have a staff librarian to do research. Still.

Skeptical Scalpel: Robots attack America, but Canada not so much

As of December 2011, 1548 surgical robots have been sold and installed in the United States as opposed to 16 in Canada.

The estimated population of the U.S is 313,388,000 and for Canada, 34,764, 600.

Canada has a population that is 11.1% of the U.S. population but Canada has only about 1% as many robots. Or put another way, Canada has 1 surgical robot for every 97 robots in the U.S….

..

The estimated population of the U.S is 313,388,000 and for Canada, 34,764, 600.

Canada has a population that is 11.1% of the U.S. population but Canada has only about 1% as many robots. Or put another way, Canada has 1 surgical robot for every 97 robots in the U.S.

California’s population is 37,691,912, which is about 3 million more than the population of Canada, but California, with 114 robots, has seven times as many robots as Canada..

Related Resources (will be adding resources included unbiased items about robotic surgery by the end of the week)

• Explore your treatment options: start the conversation (one of a series of great tips by the US Agency for Healthcare Reseearch and Quality (AHRQ) )
• Questions are the answer – your health care depends on good communication (AHRQ)
  This Web site lets you make a list of questions that you can bring to your medical appointments and gives you tips on talking with your doctor.
• More assistance & helpful tips via AHRQ via the Patient/Consumer site

Related articles (Pros and Cons for informational purposes)

• [Reblog] How hospitals recoup the cost of buying robotic surgery systems (jflahiff.wordpress.com)
• Robotic surgery shouldn’t be universally dismissed (kevinmd.com)
• DistalMotion’s Surgical Tool Combines the Best of Robotic and Endoscopic Surgery (medgadget.com)
• Robot Performs Prostate Surgery (blogs.wsj.com)
• Intuitive Surgical Sued In New York Over Death of 24 Year Old Woman Arising from the Use of the daVinci Robot During a Hysterectomy (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• Could pricey surgical robots make their way into medium-sized hospitals? (medcitynews.com)
• Open-source Platform Aids Surgical Robotics Research (it4good.wordpress.com)
• Fewer deaths, complications with robotic bladder cancer surgery, but cost is higher (medicalxpress.com)

Guest Post: The Evolution of Sedentary Time

Reblogged from Mr Epidemiology:

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Mr Epidemiology: Today, I'm welcoming Lindsay Kobayashi back to the blog. You can find out more about Lindsay at the end of this post.

The negative health effects of sedentary behaviour are a hot topic gaining scientific and popular attention. Any Canadian reading the news should be aware that sitting is killing us – Maclean’s, the Globe and Mail…

Read more… 938 more words

Add your thoughts here... (optional)

Why Do More People Die During Economic Expansions?

St Annes Nursing Home (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the April 2012 brief at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

The brief’s key findings are:

• When economic times are good, deaths in the United States increase.

• Previous research suggests that a likely culprit is poorer health habits tied to greater job demands.

• However, the increase in mortality is largely driven by deaths among elderly women in nursing homes.

• These nursing home deaths may reflect increased shortages of caregivers during economic expansions.

Related articles

• Death Rates Higher In Nursing Homes During Good Economy (nursingassistants.net)