(Patients at the Life Care Center of the Willows enjoying the Wii.)

Rehabilitation facilities are usually a somber place because there are patients going through very difficult times trying to get better. At the Life Care Center of the Willows in Valparaiso, Indiana, the living room of this rehabilitation facility used to be another quiet place, until a Nintendo Wii was placed there. Now it has become a place that is both fun and part of the patients' rehabilitation process. A lot of the patients are able to play with the Wii because as they are going through their rehab, they are also supplementing it by playing with the Wii.

The person in charge of adding the Wii to this facility is Willows Executive Director Cathy Fulton who has noticed that more patients have become more social and more engaging when playing the Wii with others. The Wii has helped the patients with their balance and movement, and since the payer gets a higher score when they play with more balance and movement, the patients are more encouraged to perform well. With their better moods, they also become more social and this is actually helping with their rehabilitation. Mike Mings who is a patient at the facility states the Wii is both helping him socialize with the others and getting him to stay in shape as musch as it can.

Source: www.nwitimes.com/niche/get-healthy/fitness/article_2bad04b4-313b-53d7-97c0-ac2f7b5d7257.html