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Staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children —Greenville play Wii Boxing as part of National Physical Therapy Month. The Wii system makes therapy sessions fun for kids at the pedicatric orthopaedic hospital. |
October is National Physical Therapy Month. At Shriners Hospitals for Children® — Greenville, our physical therapists work hard each day to help patients restore and improve motion, while improving their quality of life. Physical therapists use many techniques to help distract the patient so that they complete their exercises in a fun way, without realizing a treatment is even taking place. One such technique is using the Wii gaming system. While “playing” the Wii, patients are also working on strengthening, flexibility, balance, and coordination.
In honor of National Physical Therapy Month, the therapists at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Greenville developed a unique way to educate their fellow employees about their department. During October, the hospital is having a Wii Boxing Tournament.
“The progression of the tournament mimics how we work with our patients on balance and coordination," said Stephanie Morris, DPT, physical therapist at the pediatrirc orthopaedic hospital. "First they start out standing on a flat surface and then they move on to more uneven surfaces as they progress with their therapies.”
The round robin tournament started out with contestants answering questions about physical therapy and then playing a match standing on a flat surface. In the second round, contestants will have to choose a strengthening exercise to complete before competing in a match that will be played while standing on an uneven surface.
The final Wii boxing match will take place at the end of the month.