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Video games as a supportive tool in the therapeutic process

Author(s): Marcin Mateusz Granat
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Sociology of Art
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: video games; rehabilitation; pediatry; psychiatry

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the diseases that are on the rise, and then to investigate whether video games can support their treatment. To achieve the goal a search based on scientific literature was conducted. The results led to the conclusion that video games are an effective tool in the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Compared to the standard rehabilitation, patients who were playing video games showed improvement of upper limb motor functions, better static balance and lower anxiety of falling. Similarly, statistically significant improvement measured by Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test was observed during the rehabilitation of a pediatric group suffering from cerebral palsy. Video games successfully supported the therapy of other juvenile patients by enhancing visual acuity in cases of children amblyopia as well as lowering anxiety during the induction of anaesthesia. Moreover, the usefulness of video games was observed in treating mental disorders. It involved patients with the post-traumatic stress disorder, who presented reduced flashback frequency, and patients with depression, who showed a lower rumination score along with increasing subjective cognition. Indicating which diseases have an increasing morbidity rate as well as demonstrating positive therapeutic responses to video games can provide useful information for public health practitioners and improve the treatment of selected diseases.

  • Issue Year: 14/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 66-81
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish